Persona 4: Face Every Shadow: The Golden
by Flux Casey
Summary: The Velvet Room calls again, for a Fool that would reject his purpose and seek a new path. Persona 4 followup to Fairly English Story.
1. Welcome Home

April 11 2011

/_" _I'm tired of diets, enough with going to the gym! Good thing there's something even I can handle!"_ _\

Ahh, Risette. I own far too many pin-ups of you. Two of them in that bikini, now that I think about it.

Having wasted enough time swooning (in a manly way, just to be clear) over the pretty girl on the TV, I finally boarded my train. I chose the nearest empty seat I could find and took a minute to breathe before e-mailing my uncle to let him know when I'd be arriving. I'll be staying at his house for this school year and as the only person I 'know' in my new town it's his job to welcome me when I get there.

Time to people watch to keep me occupied.

Behind me, family of four. Lots of luggage. Going on vacation? Or coming back, I suppose.

To my left, guy in a suit. Clearly a businessman. Expression says this isn't a trip that will be filled with smiles and handshakes. Based on the damage to his fingernails he's nervous, and with how extensive it is his nerves have been fraying for a long time.

And opposite me... that... that is a _huge_ nose. I mean his hands are clasped under that thing and his nose _goes past them._ Is that even possible? And... when did the train car get smaller and turn blue?

"Welcome to the Velvet Room." said nose-man in an inviting tone.

… Hallucinating. Where the hell did _this_ come from? Did someone put something in my coffee or what?

Just... Smile and nod at the nice imaginary people so the real ones don't think you're crazy.

The man with the preternatural beak just chuckled to himself. "It seems we have a guest with an intriguing destiny. My name is Igor. I am delighted to make your acquaintance."

An old man with a hunch and grotesque appearance. My hallucinations are going literary today. "Seta Souji. Nice to meet you too."

Idiot! Don't answer out loud! Freaked-out businessman will get worried!

"Allow me to explain. This place exists between dream and reality. Mind and matter. It is a room that only those who are bound by a contract may enter. It may be that such a fate awaits you in the future." Are hallucinations usually this... confusing? Probably. "Now let's take a look into that future, shall we?"

And a pack of cards just appeared out of nowhere. I figure it's best to just roll with it at this point. "Do you believe in fortune telling?" he asked me. Now for the most part I'm not too close-minded about the supernatural. Some things we just can't know, right? But the idea of predicting the future just makes me... uncomfortable.

"No." I answered. "Predicting the future implies everything that happens was always going to happen and we have no control. And if we have no control then we have no purpose. We're just going through the motions."

Now _that_ is an unnerving grin. "Indeed. However, by predicting enough variables you can expect events to follow certain paths, yes? Still, let's see what the cards say of your future. There is no harm in it, after all."

He waved his hand over the deck and 6 cards spread over the table in front of him. He turned the first over. "Ah, the tower in the upright position. It seems a terrible catastrophe is imminent." He turned over the next, ignoring my rolling eyes. Not like he could blame me for my skepticism. He may as well have said 'Youuu areeee in graaaave daaaaaanger! OoooOOOOOoooh!'

"The Moon in the upright position. This card represents hesitation and mystery. Very interesting indeed!" If you say so, boss. "It seems you will encounter a misfortune at your destination and a great mystery will be imposed upon you. In the coming days you will enter into a contract of some sort. After which, you will return here. The coming year is a turning point in your destiny. If the mystery goes unsolved your future may be forever lost. My duty is to provide assistance to our guests to ensure that does not happen."

He waved his hand and the cards on the table vanished. I should just let them talk. Not like they're paying much attention to what I say anyway.

Wait, them? "And she is...?" I said, indicating the young woman to Igor's left.

"Ah, I have neglected to introduce my assistant to you. This is Margaret. She is a resident of this place like myself."

"I am here to accompany you through your journey." That's the first thing she's said since this whole acid-trip started.

Igor continued "We shall attend to the details another time. Until then, farewell."

I blinked and suddenly I'm back on the train. Quick look around. No one giving me weird looks so I guess that conversation was just in my head. So... a dream then? Not a hallucination? That's a relief.

I checked my phone. Looks like I've only been out for 20 minutes. Uncle Dojima responded though, telling me they'll meet me outside of Yasoinaba station. I guess he's bringing his daughter with him.

"Hey, over here!" I heard as I came out of the train station. Looking around I only saw two people around so I guess that man would be my uncle calling me over.

The man continued as I walked over. "Well, you're more handsome in person than in your photo."

…

...Please say you're my uncle. And also that you didn't mean for that to sound so creepy.

Turns out that yes, it _is_ my Uncle Dojima and the little girl is his daughter Nanako (and thus, my cousin). Dojima seems friendly enough but I think Nanako is a little bit shy. She keeps hiding behind her dad.

As I start following the two towards the car some girl looking fit for Akihabara stops me and hands me a note I dropped. Thanking her for it she brushes it off with the practiced disinterest of a social-climbing high school girl before walking off. Weird. Putting it out of my mind I get in the car and we head for the Dojima house.

I suppose I should start calling it 'home' since that's what it will be for this year. At least this time I'll be able to stay in one place for the full school year, start to finish. It's rare that I end a school year in the same place I started it.

On the way 'home' we stopped off at the gas station and I got an introduction to what people are like in small towns. Friendly, it turns out. The attendant practically offered me a job then and there. I'm really starting to feel a bit woozy though. Sooner we get to the house, the better. Dojima thinks I might be carsick or something. First case of carsickness coming on outside a car that I've ever heard of but he suggests I wander around the shopping district for a bit. Find my way around.

And who should I find?

"Umm, have we met before?" she asks in response to my staring.

I blink uncomprehendingly. It's been like ten minutes. How many silver-haired teenagers does she know? "Yeah? The train station?"

"Oh. Okay." And then she's staring at me as if to say 'go away'.

Not that I'm deterred. I'm too curious. "What's with the outfit?"

"Ex _cuse_ me?" She asks, eyebrows raised.

"I mean I've only been in town for like twenty minutes but I'm pretty sure there aren't many people wandering around dressed like they're about to go to a cosplay convention."

She snorts. "Yeah? And I bet there aren't many people in this town trying quite so hard to nail the 'cool guy strut' like you are." And with that she goes back to whatever she was doing with that notepad. Well... That's me told.

I wander around the shopping district for a bit, or what's left of it. It's all kind of run-down for some reason. Lot of places are closed down. I consider getting a soda from the vending machine but decide not to keep the Dojimas waiting. I head back to the car and we drive ho-... No. Still weird. We go to their house.

We arrived at the house within a few minutes. Seems like everything in this town is within walking distance which is a nice change of pace (and a nice relief for my wallet). Almost as soon as we got in we sat down to dinner. Dojima was quick to start a conversation. "So your mom and dad are busy as always. Working overseas, was it?"

"Yep." I responded "Again."

He sighed. "I know it's only for a year but getting stuck in a place like this because of your parents? It's rough being a kid."

I decided on being candid with him. We're family after all. "I don't know. I've stayed in less pleasant places. And at least this time I'm with family, right? Thank you for letting me stay here."

"Well it's just me and Nanako here so it'll be nice having someone like you around. Like you said, we're family. So make yourself at home."

"I'll do that." I replied, returning his warm smile.

"Well anyway, let's eat." Dojima said, ending the conversation there. Right before his phone rang. "Ugh. Who's calling at this hour?"

It seems whatever the phone call was about, it was urgent. Dojima left without even touching his food, asking Nanako to help me get settled in (and bring in the laundry?). Thus, I'm left alone with Nanako, who turns the TV on to drown out the awkward, deafening silence.

…

…

Okay. This is ridiculous. _Any_ thing we talk about has to be more interesting than a weather report. Errrr... "So, what does your dad do?" Yeah, that works.

"He investigates crimes and stuff."

"Like Batman?"

"No, he's a detective."

"Batman's a detective."

She giggled a bit. Success! I got her to laugh! "No. he's a _police_ detective."

Okay. Ice officially broken. Keep the conversation going and we're golden. "So is that where he just-" My question was interrupted by the news. Some scandal about a singer or something. I was only paying attention to the fact that it interrupted what might have been the first step in getting her to stop being so nervous around me.

"This is boring." You're not wrong. Mercifully she changed the channel.

_\\_"At Junes, every day is customer appreciation day! Come see for yourself, and get in touch with our products!"_\\_

_\\_ _Every day's great at your Ju-nes!_ _\\_

" _Every day's great at your Ju-nes_!" Nanako sang along with the jingle.

And it was one of the most adorable things I've ever seen! With the waving of the hands and everything! It could be weaponised with how cute that was.

Nanako looked at me and I realised I'd been staring at her with a big, goofy grin on my face. "... Aren't you going to eat?" She asked, all joy from ten seconds ago gone.

Unfortunately, the weird feeling I'd been having all afternoon hadn't passed yet and was destroying my appetite. I only managed to finish half before retreating to my box-filled room. Hopefully it'll pass once I've gotten some rest. I practically dived onto my futon and was out within seconds.

Here's hoping tomorrow is less stressful.

-(-)-

A/N: Yes. This is really happening. And yes, I fully intend to finish it this time. No, this will not follow the same plot (you might have noticed a new character has appeared already). Yes, this still follows FEStory. No, it does not precede FESoul.

Fandom Flux. Podcasts, Let's Plays. Good fun. Go check out our Youtube channel.

And as always, as I have said in every chapter I have ever posted on this site from the very beginning.

Thanks for reading.

P.S. Except for chapters 2 and 3 of the original. Which after checking, turns out I didn't say it in those two. Oops.


	2. Fogwash

Okay. Where the hell am I? Somehow I get the impression I'm not in Inaba anymore. Might be the odd, red-brick road or the fact I can't see three feet in front of me through all of this fog. One thing is for certain though. Standing around doing nothing won't get me anywhere. Only one path. Might as well walk it.

And walk it I do. You know, this place just seems lovely. I'd be tempted to buy a home here if there were a guarantee I'd be able to find it. I bet there's some impressive fog-front properties availa-wah!

Sooo path is, in fact, _not_ a straight line. And either side is a fall of... indeterminate height. Paying more attention now, yes sir!

"Do you seek the truth?"

Ah. A spooky disembodied voice. Just what I needed. "What truth?" I asked the whatever-it-was.

No answer. Figures.

I start humming to myself as I continued walking forward.

"If it's truth you desire, come and find me."

I sigh. "You know you could come to me instead! I get the feeling you might know your way around better than me.", The voice is beginning to piss me off. "I still have no idea what it is you're talking about."

No answer. Again. And again, it figures.

Screw it. I keep walking. I mean there's still no other options, save jumping into the abyss. And I really have an urge to punch this voice in the face.

Eventually, I reach the end. And by 'the end' I mean a wall. A very stylish wall made up of concentric squares but that doesn't change the fact that it's in my way. I put my hand on it and push a bit to see if I can get it to move a little.

...Okay. That was trippy. Squares spinning and retracting to make an opening? I have to admit it's a pretty sweet door design.

…

… And now I'm somewhere else and have a sword. Makes sense.

"So you are the one pursuing me." YOU! "Hmhmhmhm. Try all you like."

"Damn right I will! Now I can finally get you to stop talking at me!" I run at the only other presence in the 'room' and swing the sword I'm holding with both hands. It connected but... didn't seem to do much. Knew I should've taken kendo.

"Hmmmm. It seems that you can see a little, despite the fog."

"That's your fault too?! Ohhh, I'm going to enjoy this." I swing again and connect again. Still, almost completely ineffective though. What is this guy? I know I'm not exactly skilled at fighting but I'm swinging a large mass of metal at him. Surely that should get some sort of reaction.

"But you will not catch me so easily. If what you seek is truth then your search will be even harder."

He did... something. Whatever it was, it made the fog even thicker. I didn't even think that would be possible. I can only guess where he is now.

"Everyone sees what they want to and the fog only deepens."

Okay. I am officially sick of this crap. I take a run at where he was when I could see him and swing at him once more with everything I can muster.

… Not only did I miss the target, my momentum caused me to lose balance and I fell flat on my back.

"Will we meet again in a place other than here? I look forward to it."

I attempt to respond but a sudden sinking feeling stops me before I can. My body feels heavy... Maybe it would be better to... rest here for a while...

-(-)-

I wake up to the sound of Nanako's voice calling me down for breakfast. Damn. Forgot I start school straight away this time. No day of settling in for me. No dizziness anymore though. Small mercy. Maybe that means no more dreams of crazy fog people and... something... What was that dream about anyway? Meh. 'S probably not important

I search through the many boxes in my room trying to find my new school's uniform. Also known as the most badass outfit I own. I mean who designed these things? Whoever it was I will find them and hug them for making me look so damn cool.

Fully dressed and ready, I head down to breakfast (after only a couple minutes of posing in front of a mirror. I do have _some_ restraint, after all) where Nanako was waiting for me with a joyful "Good morning!"

"Morning!" I smile and sit down at the table where a plate of egg, bacon and toast was waiting for me (sweet!).

"Let's eat!" Nanako beamed a smile at me. She's clearly a morning person. Something we have in common.

"So you do the cooking?" I didn't see Dojima anywhere so it seemed a fair assumption. He must've already gone to work.

"I can toast bread and cook sunny-side up eggs in the morning." And bacon, apparently. "Dad can't cook so I buy dinner." Seriously? Wow. It's a little scary how independent this girl is. I take a bite from my bacon. Bacon bacon bacon bacon ba-...

...She was right about omitting bacon from her comment. "Mm. I see. Was a good try with the bacon though. It's just a bit undercooked." _Really_ undercooked, but I'm trying to be encouraging here. "Thing about bacon is you can practically burn it and you'll still find people who'll enjoy it. As long as it hasn't completely turned black you're probably fine." Hell, I'll eat it even then. Bacon is awesome.

She seems skeptical of my advice. Not surprising really. I just told her it's okay to burn food after all. "You start school today right?" Hmph. Subject change. One day she will learn the truth of bacon's power. "My school's on the way so... let's go together!"

After finishing up our breakfasts we head out. While we're walking I decide to check the GPS map on my phone. Pretty much the only upside of my parents never being around is that whenever they do show up they bring an expensive gift. Last time it was a top-of-the-line phone.

I was right about everything being within walking distance in this town. My new school, Yasogami High, is clear across town and still less than 20 minutes away by foot. Makes me wonder why Dojima even has a car.

About 5 minutes away from the school Nanako waves goodbye and walks off in the direction of her own school, pointing me in the direction of Yasogami in the process. Unnecessary but still very considerate of her.

As I got to the road the school was on some guy rides past me on a bike while also trying to hold onto his umbrella, screaming all the way... before slamming straight into a telegraph pole. I'd say it serves him right for trying to ride one-handed when he clearly can't but no one deserves an injury... there. Ouch.

As I reached the school I came to a startling realisation. No one at this school... has any sense of style.

It's ridiculous! The school gives the guys this sweet uniform design and every single one of them (besides me, of course) wears the jacket closed. It's like they're all _trying_ to look bland and uninteresting. Ugh.

Anyway, the school itself doesn't look too bad. I've definitely seen far worse. As soon as I walked in I started looking for the faculty office. The teacher who handled my transfer here told me to make sure I introduce myself to my homeroom teacher, Mr Morooka, before heading to class. Seems fair enough. Ah, found it. Now, need to make a good first impression. Must not get on his bad side. I opened the door.

TEETH!

...Now that is an angry glare. Oh, crap! How long have I been staring at his teeth?! Recover, man! Recover! "Morooka-sensei? My name is Seta Souji. I'm a transfer student joining your class... for... this year?" Oh, god please stop glaring at me.

"Yeah, I read your file, kid. Gotta say I'm glad a city brat like you is only staying here for a year. Now follow me. I'll introduce ya to the rest of the delinquents."

That could've gone better. Maybe. Nah, I think I was doomed from the start on this one.

I dutifully follow Morooka into the classroom and stand next to him at the front of the class.

"Awright, shut your traps!" Yep. I was right. This guy is just pissed at everybody. "I'm Kinshiro Morooka, your homeroom teacher from today forward. First things first! Just because it's spring doesn't mean you can swoon over each other like love-struck baboons!" Dude, what? "Long as I'm around you students are gonna be pure as the driven snow." And now I'm officially _glad_ I'm not on this guy's good side.

"Now I hate wasting my time but I'd better introduce this transfer student. This sad-sack's been thrown from the big city out to the middle of nowhere like yesterday's garbage." He really has a way with words. "And he's just as much of a loser here as he was there so you girls better not get any ideas about hitting on him." I winked at the class. That got me a smile from a couple of girls. Nice. "Tell 'em your name, kid and make it quick."

...So to him I'm a waste of time, a 'sad-sack' (what does that even mean?), garbage and a loser. Don't know whether I'm any of those but I do know I don't take insults without giving anything back.

"I'm Seta Souji. And I now take dental hygiene very seriously." That drew a gasp from most of the class. Morooka looks like he's trying not to punch me in the face.

… Good for him. He managed not to. I'm honestly impressed. I would've punched me for saying that. "... You're on my shit list, effective immediately."

Then he got back to lecturing about the poor character of 'kids today'. I'm pretty sure he prepared it so technically not my fault. Eventually someone had the good sense to interrupt Morooka's ranting. A girl in green with a bowl-cut that was actually kind of cute considering... ya know... bowl-cut. Now that I think about it though, how does she get away with the green? Mysteries of the universe, I guess.

"Excuse me. Is it okay if the transfer student sits here?" Badass outfit and a rebellious attitude. Works every time.

"Huh?", he grunts, seeming to have lost his train of thought. "Yeah, sure. You hear that? Your seat's over there so hurry up and siddown already!"

As I got to my seat, green leaned over to me. "He's the worst, huh? Rotten luck for you to get stuck in this class. Well, we'll just have to hang in there for a year." She's not wrong. I've only had one teacher who was even close to being as bad as Morooka. Was a very different kind of bad though. More disturbing than infuriating.

As the class started to settle I could pick out a few voices talking about me. Mostly sympathy. And it seems my back-talk impressed one or two people. Others just thought it was suicidal.

After a couple of minutes, Morooka took back control of the classroom. Several hours later I almost wept with joy at the fact that this hellish ordeal was finally ending.

-(-)-

A/N: Well, that's another. Didn't actually change too much here. Fixed a _lot_ of tenses issues, fixed the wording of some things and tried to streamline it.

Again. Fandom Flux youtube channel. KingofZeroX is on it. He's a cool dude.

Thanks for reading.


	3. Fsteak

"That's all for today. Normal lectures will start tomorrow." Morooka seems even more eager to leave than I am. Too bad for him his hurried pace doesn't get him gone before an announcement over the school PA stops him, calling him for a staff meeting and telling students not to leave. Someone clearly wants me miserable and they're doing a good job keeping me that way.

Nevermind. Time to take the opportunity for a quick nap.

…

…

… Is that a siren? … Meh. Nothin' to do with me.

…

…

"Hey."

… Muh? … Nuh.

"Hey!"

. . . Mu-"OW! What the hell? Did you just kick me?"

"Hmhm! Sorry. Thought you were ignorin' me." I … may have been. No excuse to interrupt a perfectly good nap though. Mean. "Did you miss the announcement? We can go now. If you're going home by yourself you can come with us instead if you want."

Lemme think about this. Walk home either on my own or with two pretty – wait … yes, pretty – girls. "Sure." I answer, doing a fine job of hiding my eagerness if I do say so myself.

"Oh, I almost forgot! I'm Chie Satonaka. I sit next to you, remember?"

"Of course."

"Nice to meet you! And this is Yukiko Amagi." she introduces, indicating the more refined-looking, dark-haired girl next to her.

"I-It's nice to meet you. I'm sorry this is all so sudden." An apology? Really? Politeness is one thing but that just seems excessive.

"Don't apologise. I'm new here. I'm glad to get to know people." And you're weirding me out.

With that we start to head outside. Or we would have were it not for- "Ah, Satonaka-san." -an interruption.

Interruption presented Chie with a DVD case. "This was really awesome. Like, the way they moved was just amazing to see and..." He bows completely in half. "I'mreallysorry! It was an accident! Please just have mercy until my next paycheck!" He gives her the case. "Seeya thanks!" And bolts for the door. I don't know whether to commend him for his bravery in facing her and admitting fault or condemn him for running like a wuss. *CRUNCH* Ohhhhh, that looked painful. Commend him it is.

… Wait I recognise him now! Heh. Poor bastard. Just not his day, is it?

Walking out of the school gates, Yukiko is being accosted by the worst pick-up artist I have _ever_ seen. _**Ever.**_

"Y-you're Yuki, right? Y-you wanna hang out somewhere?" No greeting. Nickname despite clearly having never spoken to her before. Stuttering. It's really just painful to watch.

At some point during his stammering we manage to draw a small crowd. Seems my opinion on his 'skills' is shared by most of the crowd. Whispers of "You'd think he'd wait until she was alone to make his move" and "I bet you a can of TaP he gets knocked out" were clearly audible and devastating this guy's composure (or lack thereof).

"Um... s-so are you coming or not?!"

"I-I'm not going." Shocker.

"Fine!"

Aaaaand he's running. Hissy-fit not the exit strategy I would've gone for but after failing that badly it makes little diffe- Is he crying? Aww, dammit. Now I feel guilty for mocking him.

"What did he want from me?"

… You can't be serious.

"What did he want? Obviously he was asking you out on a date!", Chie cut in. She was serious. That's... I don't even know what to make of that.

"Not that he was doing a good job of it." I said, finally joining the conversation. "Or even an okay job."

"Yeah, like you're some kind of expert." HEY! "It was over the top, though. Like how he called you 'Yuki' all of a sudden."

"Yo, Yukiko-san! Turned down another lovelorn fool, huh?" Dude, you recovered _fast_! Usually takes me a full hour to recover to a nut-shot like that. "Man. You're cruel. You got me the same way last year."

 _And how the hell do you intend to ride a bike with that injury?!_

"I don't recall doing that." Yukiko retorts.

"Woah, you serious? You wanna hang out some time?" You're an optimist. Good for you.

"I'd rather not."

"That'll teach me to get my hopes up."

"If it's any consolation, you did better than that guy." I interrupt, inclining my head to indicate the guy still sobbing further down the street.

-(-)-

"Oh, so you came here because of your parents' job, huh? Haha, I thought it was something way more serious."

As we walked home Chie and I talked about various things. The school, cycling student (his name was Yosuke, apparently) and then the topic inevitably changed to me. It seems I'm a source of much curiosity in the school.

Yukiko stayed pretty quiet though. Shy, maybe? I dunno.

"Yeah. Usually they drag me around to whichever country their job takes them to but this year is supposed to be really busy for them, so I'm staying with my uncle for the year instead."

"You sound like you're mad at them or something."

"Mad may be a bit strong." No, it's not. "Frustrated'd be more accurate." Nope. Equally as accurate.

"Well I bet it's not gonna help being left here, right? There really is nothing here. I mean that's what makes it nice but there's nothin' to show off to people from outside."

I think I'm giving the wrong impression here. "Don't get me wrong. I've been to plenty of different places. Some more impressive than others. Went to America a couple of times, even." Hmm. I think I'm starting to sound like I'm bragging. Wrap it up. "What I'm trying to say is I'm glad to stay in one place for more than six months. Where doesn't matter that much to me... Wait I think that came out... Let me start ove-"

Chie stopps me before I get too caught up. "It's okay! Don't worry about it. Besides I was exaggerating anyway. It's not like there's really nothin' here. I mean there's... Umm... I think our dyed clothes are famous?... And pottery..." She looks to Yukiko for help "Oh! And the Amagi Inn! Yukiko's family runs it. It's the pride of Inaba!"

"Really? Must be quite the swanky inn."

Yukiko finally spoke up at the mention of the inn. "Huh? It's just an old inn."

"No way! It's been in all sorta magazines as a hidden treasure." Seriously? That actually sounds like a pretty big deal.

We keep chatting for a few minutes. Until Chie throws me a curveball, that is. "So, tell me. You think Yukiko's cute huh?"

Dammit Chie! Alright, we really gonna do this? "Sure." Perfect! Affirmative but non-commital.

"Come on, Chie... Don't start this again..." Yukiko whines.

"Hahaha! Sorry, sorry! But this is our chance to talk to someone from the big city and you've barely said a word." I was about to correct her but something catches our eye up ahead. "Hey, what's that?"

Up ahead was a police cordon and a small crowd gathered around it. One woman wasn't keeping her voice down like the others. "Well, I think it's terrifying. I can't believe a dead body showed up around here." Wait, what?!

"Wait, what did she just say?!" Chie and I are clearly on the same wavelength. "A dead body?!" 

I was so distracted by the news I didn't notice my uncle until he was standing right in front of us. "What're you doing here?"

What am I doing here? What are you doing... Oh. Right. He's Batman. Forgot that bit. "Did something happen?"

"Well... you could say that." Didn't really answer the question. That's a hearty 'hell yes' then. "Damn principal. We told him not to let them through here." I don't think you meant to say that part out loud.

"You know this guy?"

Crap! Chie's on to me. Short answer. "Oh. That's my uncle."

Don't elaborate, Uncle. Please please please don't tell them you're a cop. Please please! "I'm Detective Dojima." DAMMIT! "How should I say this... I hope you get along with him."

… You couldn't have just left it at 'I'm a cop', could you. You suck, Uncle.

"But you three really should stop wandering around and head straight home." Dojima suggests. But just as he does another guy in a suit runs past in a panic.

"Ngh, *HLORRRRRF ***"** Oh. That's why he was in a hurry. That's... that's gross.

"Adachi! How long are you gonna act like a rookie? You wanna be sent back to the central office?!" Guess Dojima doesn't take kindly to puking on the job. A sound policy.

"I-I'm sorry... Urgh" the young detective responds groggily before cleaning up and heading back to the crime scene, glancing at us as he passes by.

The three of us decide that it's best if we go our separate ways. Conversation would just be awkward after seeing this. After saying goodbye to Chie and Yukiko I head straight home. I should tell Nanako that uncle is going to be home really late.

-(-)-

Nanako took the news better than I expected she would. Doesn't make it any less sad though. I can't help but relate.

Naturally the news on TV is all about the body. For once I decided to pay attention. They said the one found was Mayumi Yamano, an announcer on TV. The weirdest thing about the whole thing was that she was found hanging on an antenna on top of someone's roof. The weirdest thing about the situation, that is. The weirdest thing about the story is that they're reporting that it could've been an accident. How the hell could it have been an accident? She just tripped, fell and impaled herself on the antenna?

Oh. Guess not. Seems they can't determine cause of death. I'll admit that's kind of weird. Maybe she had a heart attack or something? I mean she's kind of young for that but I've heard of younger people dying of that.

Well... person. One. It really sucked finding out about that. Poor bastard.

"Oh, it's Junes!" Ah! Just the thing to cheer me up again! Go Nanako, go!

_\\_At Junes, every day is Customer Appreciation Day. Come see for yourself and get in touch with our products! _\\_

_\\_Every day's great at your Junes!_\\_

"Every day's great at your Junes!"

"Every day's great at your Junes!" Yeah, I joined in. What of it?

And just like that, the mood in the room lifted. Junes cures everything. I really should go get unpacked though. My room is still covered in boxes. Might as well make a proper place for myself here.

Okay. Back in my room. Time to get to work. Gadgetry first. Laptop set up at the desk, games console set up under the TV (it's tiny and old but it'll do), phone alarm clock on the dresser, half-fridge next to the TV... oh and the other computer stuff. Just stash that around the desk for now. Next, clothes. In the dresser. Then... media. Anime collection on the bottom shelf, manga and books on the middle shelf. Assorted, err... magazines between the books.

Much better! It's almost like I live here now! Should probably go to bed early if I want to help Nanako with breakfast tomorrow.

I set my alarm and head straight to bed.

-(-)-

It doesn't matter what song you set as your alarm sound. It will piss you off eventually.

Dress and... resist the urge to pose in the mirror again.

… Though I really do NO. Focus! Awesome breakfast hangs in the balance!

I shut off my music and head downstairs... Where Nanako had already almost finished breakfast? Checking the clock nearby… Is that the real time? Craaaaap. I grabbed the toast from the plate Nanako set out for me and said a hurried goodbye as I bolted for the door. Second day and I'm already running late. Awesome.

I guess I'm not the only one in a hurry. I caught a glimpse of cycling student as he flies past me... 500 yen says he crashes again.

Meh. No one would be stupid enough to take that bet.

I catch up to him further down the street as he rolls around in a trashcan. How does he keep doing this?

"S-someone...!" I decided to help him this time. I did ignore him yesterday. Both times. Of course, it would have been _easier_ if he stopped rolling around and accidentally kicking me but what're you gonna do?

"Thanks! You saved me... Um..."

"Seta." I reminded him.

"Oh, right. You're that transfer student. Seta Souji." Oh so he did remember. "I'm Yosuke Hanamura. Nice to meet ya!"

"You too. You alright? You've been having a pretty bad week so far from what I can tell."

"You're tellin' me. Chie doesn't look tough but her kicks are brutal. And she isn't afraid to aim for the weak spots."

We both winced almost simultaneously. "I remember."

We start idly chatting about the incident yesterday. Yosuke seems pretty adamant that it was murder. I still have my doubts but I admit it's the more likely scenario. When we eventually realise we were becoming even more late while we talked in the street, Yosuke gives me a ride to school. Got us there just in time for first period. Lucky us. Sort of. We did have to listen to Morooka's ideas about philosophy so... call it a wash, I guess.

-(-)-

And thus, a tolerable day of school is over. "Hey Yosuke." I greeted, as said cycling student walks over. I should really start referring to him by name in my head. He gives me a funny look. "I rescued you from a garbage can a few hours ago." I pointed out. He stops giving me the look but I can't tell whether he accepts my explanation for not using an honorific or because he really wants me to stop talking about what happened this morning. Eh. Either way.

"Hey. So you getting used to this place?"

"Nah." The corpse on the first full day I was here may have something to do with that. "Not yet."

"Yeah. You've only been here a couple of days so I guess that's normal. There isn't much to do her compared to the big city but there is that certain... something that you can't get anywhere else." Huh. Pretty much what Chie said. Except she meant it. "The air's clean, the food's great... Oh, you know about the local delicacy?" I shook my head. "It's grilled steak, man! Like that's anything special!"

"Don't knock grilled steak, dude." I reprimanded. "That's a damn satisfying meal when the mood for it strikes." I tried (somewhat successfully) to say it without salivating.

"Oh yeah? I know a place where you can get it cheap. Wanna come? You helped me out this morning so it's on me."

"... You are now my brother in all but blood. Lead on!" No I'm not being melodramatic. Shut up.

Chie thought it best to spoil this beautiful moment. "What about me, huh? No apologies? My 'Trial of the Dragon'?" Woman, I don't know what you're talking about but you're keeping me – err, I mean _us_ – us from eating steak.

"Urgh. You always come around when I'm talking about food." Yosuke whines but his tone suggests he's already resigned to her getting her way.

"How about it Yukiko? Don't you think he should treat us too?"

"I'll pass." Yukiko responded as she got up to leave. "I don't want to gain any more weight. I have to help out at the inn today anyway." Good. You go. We go too. Steak.

"Wow, Yukiko-san! You started training to take over the business?" I start glaring at the side of Yosuke's head. He doesn't seem to notice. I need to practice glaring.

"It's not like that. I'm just helping when it gets busy."

With that, she says goodbye and leaves. Leaving me, Yosuke and Steakus Interruptus.

"Well we should get going too." So she's coming too? Sure. If it gets us steak faster then that's fine by me.

"Huh? Do I seriously have to treat _two_ people?!" Yes.

-(-)-

Junes, eh? Fair enough. I'll try not to brag to Nanako. We head straight for the food court.

" _This_ is the place you were talking about?" Chie complains at Yosuke. Why is he carrying a tray of sodas? "They don't serve grilled steak here." _What._

"Yeah, well once you got on the freeloader train I had to change my plans."

 _There will be recompense, vile woman._

"Still, that's no reason to take us to your place." _There are not yet names for the tortures I will visit upon y_ -wait, his place? Seriously?! Oh, HELLS YES! I am gonna get so much free st- oh wait. He just treated us to soda. If he can't manage a single free meal I don't have a chance.

"Hey, this isn't my place or anything." Yosuke denies. Now I'm confused. "Oh right. I haven't told you yet have I?"

Yosuke tells me about how his family used to live in 'the city', whichever one that is. But then his dad was reassigned as the manager of Junes here. Thus the whole family had to up and move here.

The three of us get to talking about a variety of things. From school to the incident yesterday, the town and the Junes. According to Chie, people in town blame Junes for the troubles the businesses in the shopping district are having. I guess that would make Yosuke and his family persona-non-grata.

… Why does my eyebrow keep twitching?

While we're talking a somewhat good-looking girl who looks like she works here sits a few tables from us. This would've been entirely unremarkable except for the fact that Yosuke's eyes practically sparkled as soon as he noticed her. "Hey, it's Saki-senpai! Sorry. Be right back." And just like that he's gone.

I take the opportunity to ask Chie who she was. "Is that Yosuke's girlfriend?"

"Haha. He wishes."

"Yeah. He's not exactly being subtle, is he?"

She half-laughs. "No, he's really not. That's Saki Konishi. Her family runs a liquor store in the shopping district."

Hm. Can't blame her for spurning his advances then. Must be some animosity there.

...Why am I suddenly sweating?... And why is that girl staring at me like I'm a steak?

… I really need to get my mind off of steak.

She's walking over to our table and HO you are standing close to me, lady. "Are you the transfer student?" She giggles. "Oh, you've heard about me already."

Indeed. Personal space, please?

"It must be nice to have someone else from the big city to talk to, huh?"

"Well I-"

"I don't see Hana-chan hanging out with the other guys much. He doesn't have too many friends so I hope you two get along good."

"Ye-"

"Hana-chan's a good guy but he can get nosy sometimes. You gotta tell him right to his face when he starts to annoy you."

… Hm? Oh, is it my turn to talk? Why how gracious of you. "Nah, he's a great guy." And I don't like your attitude. I don't say that last bit but I think my tone got the message across.

"...I know. I'm just kidding." Sure you were. Yosuke, you have terrible taste in women. "Well, my break's just about over. Back to work I go. See ya."

"Oh, uh, senpai!..." Yosuke watches her leave (while she's blatantly ignoring him) before sitting back down. "Heh. She says I'm annoying but she's even nosier than me. She pretty much treats me the same way as her younger brother."

"Oh so you don't want her treating you like a brother, huh? I get it. 'The daughter of a local family-run liquor store. The scion of the invading chain. The flame of forbidden love.'" Chie can use the word 'scion' in a sentence? Wow. She's smarter than I thought she was.

"Dude, it's totally not like that!" Yosuke whines.

"Oh yeah? Well I know just the thing to cheer up that lovesick heart. You ever hear of the midnight channel?" … Ugh, great. Local superstitions. Hoorayyyyyyy.

So according to Chie, the midnight channel happens on a rainy night at exactly midnight. If you watch a TV at midnight while it's off you'll see an image of your soulmate. Yosuke and I both thought it was stupid but Chie insisted we all try it tonight. Woo.

After hanging around Junes for a little while longer we all headed home in separate directions, Chie reminding us both about the midnight channel before she went. She's really gung-ho about this.

-(-)-

Uncle actually showed up during dinner! I'm astonished! I mean it would've been better if he got home before dinner but it's an improvement.

No. Shush, Seta. It's not your place to complain. I bet it took a hell of a lot of effort to even get back late what with all the work I'm sure he has to do. What with the incident and all.

Speaking of; the news reported on it again. This time they claimed to have found the student who found the body and got an interview. A ridiculous interview that was completely unprofessional on every level but still. Dojima fell asleep on the couch so I decided to head upstairs early, reading manga until about 5 minutes to midnight.

I shut off all of the lights, close the curtains and sit watching a blank TV screen for five minutes.

57

You better be right about this Chie.

58

Even though there's no chance in hell this'll work.

59

… Probably.

00:00

…

…

… Nothing. Figu- huh? Holy crap! Something's really happening!

… That's … A girl … light brown hair …

… Is that who I think it is?

… Ohhhhh Yosuke is gonna be _pissed._

-(-)-

A/N: Once again. A lot of tense fixes. Tidied up some of the wording. Man, this chapter was a wall of canon script. Good thing I know it goes off-book soonish.

Oh, incidentally it turns out my good buddy Slicerness reviewed this chapter in the original wayyyyyy back in 2010. Awesome.

Fandom Flux. Youtube. Cool stuff.

Thanks for reading.


	4. Through the Looking Screen

-I ART THOU-

Wha?

- **THOU ART I** -

Argh! My... My head... It... hurts...!

- **THOU ART THE ONE** \- … Please stop... - **WHO OPENS THE DOOR** -

 _Stop!_

…

… It's gone? … What _was_ that just now?

No, nevermind. It's gone. That's good enough for me. At least for now anyway. I'm going to the hospital at the first opportunity though.

TV's still on. Wait a minute. I never turned it on in the first place. Chie specifically said it had to be off for that midnight channel crap to work. I reach out to the TV. Maybe it's just busted or something. I'll just switch it off.

I miss the button. By a mile. But the fact that I have no coordination is not my biggest concern right now.

My _biggest_ concern is that my hand is now _gone_. WHAT IN THE HELL IS GOING ON!

Is something holding my- "YAH!" I fall forward into the TV, only avoiding falling all the way through due to not being able to fit.

No way in hell am I dying half-stuck in a TV. I push against the TV casing with the only hand I have in an attempt to free myself. It doesn't take long to get free but the sudden lack of resistance causes me to fall backwards.

… And crack my head on the table behind me. Thank you adrenaline. I bet that would've really hurt without your interference.

"Are you okay...?" Nanako's voice. Dammit. The noise must've woken her up.

Answer, you idiot! "Maybe." No, answer better! "Probably... Yes. I mean yes, I'm fine. Sorry for waking you up."

"... Okay." Phew. "G'night."

"Good night." Yes. Sleep is good now. Here on the floor is fine. The three steps to my bed would probably somehow cause my death. Like I'd accidentally fall into a portal to hell or something.

...Sleep.

-(-)-

… Muh? Ah, stupid alarm music, I am _not_ in the mood! Man, my head. I miss adrenaline.

So... what really happened last night? That midnight channel thing. That really happened. I'm sure of it. But the rest? Maybe I passed out out of shock and hit my head?

...God I hope so. I'll... ask the others what happened to them.

Up. Dressed. Gone. I'll grab breakfast on the way.

-(-)-

"Anno Domini means "in the year of the lord'. A.D. Began when Jesus Christ was born." Please leave me alone so I can think, crazy Pharaoh lady. Five. I was barely listening. I just know she asked something about A.D.

I was right. Woo. Back to what's important.

So the midnight channel thing. True. Then there was the voice and that indescribable pain. I... I don't think I dreamed that. I mean I've never experienced pain that was in any way like that and I can't dream something that is completely outside my experience, right? So... So that happened too.

Then the TV. I don't know. I could've dreamed that easily. I could've passed out for a second from that pain, hit my head and came back around to hear Nanako.

Yeah. That must be it.

*bing bong bing bong*

Huh? School's over already? Was I so lost in thought I completely missed lunch?! Dammit.

"My senpai told me it was a third year named Saki who found the body." What? Really?

Actually, you know what? Right at this very moment I don't care at all. I got up to see if I could find Yosuke or Chie.

"Y-yo Seta. Um..."

Eh? "Oh. Hey, Yosuke." One. We stand around awkwardly for a moment. I needed confirmation that something weird happened to him too. And this is it. "It's uh... It's not really that important but... Well, yesterday on TV I-" He looks around the room nervously. "You know what? It's not important. I'll tell ya later. Heheh..."

"Yosuke, did you hear the rumour?" Hi, Chie. Seven. Nice to see you again too. "Saki-senpai is supposedly the one who discovered the body!"

"... You didn't watch that midnight channel last night, did you?" I ask Chie.

"What? Of course I did but-"

"THEN WHY THE HELL AREN'T YOU AS FREAKED OUT AS US?!" The two of them look at me, shocked. So did everyone in the room, in fact. "Ahem. Sorry. But really! One of these stupid superstitions actually comes true and you don't even bat an eye?"

"Wait, so you both saw it last night, too?" Chie asks.

"Well I know I did and Yosuke is acting almost as weird as I figure I am, right now. So it's fair to assume."

"Me too! I totally saw a girl!" … Eh? This so very trumps spooky voices and falling into TVs. "But my soulmate's a girl? What's that supposed to mean?"

 _Fun times._ "Well-" I begin.

"I mean I couldn't quite tell who it was." Hmph. Spoiling my fun times. "Her hair was brown, about shoulder length. She was wearing our school uniform and-"

"Hey, I think that's the same person I saw!" Yosuke interjects.

"... Me too." I know who it is though. But if we all saw the same person then the midnight channel is clearly not what Chie thought it was. So it doesn't matter, right? "But... is that all that happened to you guys?"

"Whaddya mean?"

"Well... after the midnight channel, I", I took a deep breath to steady myself and ,"I heard this really weird spooky voice in my head talking like 'thou art thee art thou art something something' and I felt the horrible pain in my head then I touched my TV screen and my hand passed through the screen and then something pulled me further in until my head went through and I got stuck." Breathe... In... Out... Breathe...

"..."

"..."

Chie starts first. "Snrk... Hahahahahahahaha!"

Then Yosuke joins in. "Hahahahaha!"

… Yeah. Maybe I should've kept quiet.

Yosuke is the first to recover. "So, hmhmhm, ahem. So there was this weird voice. Then you got sucked into your TV? Hahaha! Dude, were you that tired? You must've just fallen asleep in front of your TV."

Chie eventually stops laughing. "Hahahaha." _Eventually_. "Yeah. I liked the part where you got stuck because your TV was too small. That's pretty realistic." … Screw you guys."Oh, that reminds me. My parents are looking to buy a bigger TV."

"Oh yeah? Well we're beefing up the electronics department this month so you wanna take a look on the way home?" And so all conversation about what happened last night ends there. "We might even find one big enough for this guy to fit into. Heheheh." Except for the mocking, of course.

-(-)-

When we got to Junes, Chie and Yosuke headed straight for the electronics department. I had decided to take a detour to the food court to grab something to eat. Not had a decent meal all day after all. When I catch up to the others they're already looking at TVs.

"Wow! This is huge!" Chie exclaims, looking at a pretty massive TV. "And... holy crap, it's expensive. Who buys something like this?

"Rich folks I guess." answers Yosuke. I decide not to mention my parents having one almost as big as this in the one place they hold as an ordinary residence.

Not that they ever stay there, though. I still don't get why they bother.

"Well, at least looking's free!"

They look at each other, nod and walk towards the TV. Both start to tap the screen.

...Oh, I get it. You guys are hilarious.

"Nope. Can't get in. Figures." Yosuke shrugs.

"Hmhmhm. This proves it. It was all just a dream." Chie giggles.

"... Oh, really?" Screw it. I look stupid whether this works or not. I walk up to the screen and tap it with my index finger.

It ripples just like it did last night. And those two don't notice. Perfect! I turn to face them, raise my left arm and...

…shove it through the screen, elbow deep.

Watching their minds process what just happened is such a beautiful experience. Calm. Confusion. Realisation. Horror. Aaaand … panic. There it is. Delicious. Serves you two right for taking the piss out of-...Waaaaaaitaminute.

… It worked.

… It wasn't a dream.

… It all really happened.

… My arm is in a TV right now.

…

"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!" Chie screams.

"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!" Yosuke joins her.

"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!" I pull my arm back out. Then the reality of the situation proves too much for me. The next thing I remember is Yosuke slapping me while I stare at the ceiling.

"Wake up!" Slap. "Wake up!" Slap. "Wake u-" I grab his arm.

"Quit slapping me. What happened?"

"Your arm went through a damn TV screen, that's what happened! How did you do that?!"

Yosuke helps me to my feet as I try to put the pieces together.

… I can pass through TV screens.

… That about covers it. "I 'unno." I answer.

"Whaddya mean you don't know? How can you not kno-" I interrupt Chie by sticking my hand in the TV again. "STOP DOING THAT."

I shush her. "I'm thinking." Obviously this shouldn't be possible and it must be something to do with me since Chie and Yosuke tried and it didn't work. So that rules out the midnight channel... The voice! What did the voice say. 'Thou art the one... "who opens the door"'.

"What?" Chie asks, still confused as would be expected but at least they've both calmed down a bit now.

"I'm going in."

"WHAT?!" both of them shouted in unison. So much for calm.

"Stop shouting already! Don't draw attention to us." I reprimand them. "I'm going to stick my head in and see what's on the other side."

"But-" I don't hear the end of Yosuke's objection as my head is already passing through.

Hm. Can't see much in here. Plenty of space though. I pull myself back out and tell them.

"Whaddya mean 'empty space'?" Yosuke asks frantically.

"I mean empty space. I can't really see clearly what's in there but there's room to move around. I'm gonna go in and check it out."

"What? No! What if-"

I stop Chie before she can finish her complaint. I'd feel bad about constantly interrupting them but... I need to know what this is. "I'll be fine. I'll be back in a minute." I put my right leg through the screen and start feeling around for some sort of floor.

Chie tries to pull me back out but only causes me to lose balance on my other foot. I let out a panicked yelp as I start falling into the screen. Chie panics and grips tighter but only gets dragged in after me.

"Chie!" I hear Yosuke shout. Then there's falling and...

-(-)-

"Shiiiiiiiiiiii-UGH!"

"Ah!"

"Oof!"

I'm gonna have some bruises tomorrow. "Are you guys okay?

"Yeah." Chie answers with a slight grimace.

"Man, I think my butt's cracked now." … Yosuke, it's … Nah. Too easy.

"So... where the heck are we?" That's a damn good question, Chie.

I look around and all I can see is... fog? "I can't see anything so I have no idea. Yosuke?"

"I can't see anything much. Lights. Spotlights. And … rigging … like you'd find on the set of a TV show. Maybe it's a studio."

I nod, getting to my feet. "Makes sense to me. We're in a TV after all." I start wandering around looking for anything that could tell us more.

"A studio? So maybe this fog is … smoke?" Chie asked.

"Maybe." … Err. This could be a problem. "Umm, guys? Either of you see a way out of here?"

Chie gives me a confused look. "What are you talking about? The exit's right behi-AHH!"

Yosuke spins around at her shriek. "What? What?!"

"The exit's gone!" Chie wails.

"WHAT?! How can that be?!"

I sigh. "Chie, the exit was never behind you. We fell remember? Pretty far too from what I can tell. If that exit is still there then we can't get to it. We need to look around for some other way to get out of here" I explained.

"Y-you're right, Seta. Let's just calm down and think for a minute." Yosuke took a few calming breaths and continued. "Okay. So how do we find a way out of here?"

Chie looked at the two of us, clearly still on edge.

Time to be helpful. I thought about it for a few seconds. "Well it's safe to say I could get wherever 'here' is through any TV. So either all TV's lead to this place or each leads to a different place. So there're three possibilities. One: There's one exit and it's right above us. Two: There are millions of exits all around us and we just can't see them. Three: getting out of here isn't that simple."

Yosuke was doing his best to follow my logic. "... Okay so how does that help us?"

"Oh... Uhh … I guess it doesn't really." Oops.

I can practically see Chie's patience snap. "Oh, great! You're a _lifesaver_ , Seta! You get us all dragged in here and now we're trapped! I can't take this anymore! I wanna go home!" She started sobbing quietly.

… She's right. I could've gone back to Junes alone on another day and checked this place out on my own. I was impatient and ended up dragging them into this, literally.

I walk over to where Chie is standing and look her straight in the eye. "Chie-chan, I'm sorry I got you and Yosuke mixed up in this but I promise I will get us out of here. If we just stay calm and keep our wits about us we'll be fine. Can you do that?"

She chokes back a sob and looks at me. "... Fine. But …. But you better be right about this."

"Thankyou." I turn to Yosuke. "Okay, Yosuke. Pick a direction and we'll start exploring."

"Why me?" Because then I can pin some of the blame on you. "Uhh, that way." He points in a random direction.

"Okay. Let's go."

-(-)-

After what felt like an age of walking and searching we come upon a real landmark. A large building with dozens of empty rooms. And by empty rooms I mean doors with literally nothing on the other side of them. It was just one giant room with dozens of doors lining the walls end-to-end, floor-to-ceiling. We were about to give up when we noticed one door that wasn't like the others.

Namely it wasn't a door. Instead it was a red and black swirl. Having found nothing else of note anywhere, we decide to check it out. No way to know what an exit would even look like in this place, right?

After passing through the strange doorway we find ourselves, not back in the real world but in what looks like a bedroom.

"Hey Seta, is it just me or is the fog lighter here?" Yosuke asks hesitantly.

"No, you're right." I answer, glad to be able to see again. A little. "And I'm glad of that. I was getting some pretty bad eye-strain trying to see where I was going out there."

Yosuke takes this opportunity to try his phone, now that he can see the display. "No service. Figures."

We look around the room. It's hard to believe we didn't notice the serial killer style decorations lining the walls. Dozens of copies of the same poster with all of the faces scratched out. Yosuke is the first to comment. "It keeps getting creepier and creepier the further we go... Wait, I've seen that poster somewhere before."

"Someone must really hate whoever was on it. The faces are all scratched out." Chie puts in.

Yosuke heads to the centre of the room where "Guys … this chair and rope … That arrangement is never good." he observes, indicating a noose hanging above a chair. "Wait, is that a scarf?"

Chie, laughs nervously. "Heheh, okay. Come on. L-let's get out of here."

"Y-yeah I'm with Chie on this one." I agree. "There's no way out here. Let's get back to the entrance and try another way. Besides, this room makes me feel... uneasy. And... is anyone else not feeling so hot?"

"Now that you mention it..." Yosuke agrees. "Okay. Let's head back."

-(-)-

About what I assume was a half hour later, we get back to the entrance. All three of us feeling worse by the minute.

"Phew, we finally made it back." Chie says, relieved. "Wait, whats that?" she asks, pointing behind me.

I turn around and see an odd shadow in the distance... Seventeen. Why does this feel familiar?

The figure starts moving towards us. As it gets within visible distance I find out I really wasn't prepared for what this thing is. It looks... weird. Something like an egg standing on the pointed end that someone dressed as a clown.

… I'm clearly not thinking clearly. That much is … umm … clear.

"What is this thing?" Chie asks. "A monkey? A bear?" What? How does that thing look like an animal? … Oh, yeah. The ears. Okay. I see it now.

I still say it looks like a clown egg.

"What in the world...?" Oh yeah. Thank you Yosuke. That's a much better question right now.

"Th-that's what I wanna know!" AAHHH! HOLY SHIT IT TALKED! "Who are you guys?"

Chie gasps. "It talked!" I KNOW, RIGHT?! "Uhh, what are you? … Y-You wanna fight?!" YES! Chie, go kill it! Kick him in his little egg nuts!

"D-don't yell at me like that." The egg starts cowering in fear.

"Umm, guys? I think it's scared of us." I suggest. "Yosuke. Go talk to it."

"What?! No way! You do it!"

Dammit. You suck Yosuke. "Umm, so... clown egg thing... could you tell us where we are? Please?"

He stops cowering long enough to answer. "Huh? This is where I live. You guys should hurry back to the other side. It's not safe for you here." It pauses in thought for a minute. "And I'm a bear!"

"Why not?" Oh, now you talk, Yosuke.

"Someone's been throwing people in here." the thing explains in a way that just raises a thousand more questions.

"What do you mean 'throwing people in'? Who?" Like the ones Yosuke just asked, for example.

"I don't know who does it, I just want them to stop and think before they go doing things like that!"

"... Am I the only one not following a word of this?" I asked.

"Uhh, so what it comes down to is you want us to get out of here, right? So how do we leave? We don't know where the frickin' exit is!" Oh, Yosuke, I'm so glad you're still thinking clearly. I have no idea what this thing is talking about and Chie still looks ready to kill it.

"That's what I've been saying! I'll let you out!" I don't remember you ever saying that, egg-boy.

Wait, really? "You can do that?"

"Of course! I'm a beary capable bear!" He giggles at his pun. Then waved his stubby little arm and a pile of TVs appeared out of nowhere.

"What the hell?!" Yosuke.

"Where did these TVs come from?!" Chie.

"Guys, we can leave. Now's not to question why." I step towards the TVs and push my hand through.

"Okay go go go!" What? "Get out of here. I'm a busy bear!"

"We're going, just rela-AH hey! Quit pushing, dammit!"

-(-)-

"Did we... make it back?" Yosuke asks, staring wide-eyed at the Junes electronics department.

"It looks like it." Thank god. I feel like I was losing my mind in there. "Is everybody okay?"

"More or less." Yosuke answers first. "I still feel queasy though."

"Yeah, me too." Chie agrees. "I think I'm gonna head straight home and go to bed."

/_ Attention shoppers! Our daily limited-time sale will now begin at the side-dish area on the first floor._\

"Crap! Is it already that late?" Yosuke exclaims. "I better head ho-wait. Look over there! Look!" He's pointing at a poster on the wall behind the TV display. "That's the poster we saw! It's of Misuzu Hiragi! That enka singer that's been all over the news!"

"Oh yeah." Chie agrees. "It was something about her husband having an affair with that announcer lady who died the other day."

Yosuke's thoughts are written all over his face. "So that announcer's death... could've been related to that creepy room we saw? I mean that chair and noose..." He shakes his head to clear it. "Yaaagh, no! Stop! We need to stop talking about this. I'm going home and forgetting this whole thing ever happened."

"Yosuke, I'm... I'm sorry about all this, you guys." _I almost got them killed._

"...Don't worry about it, Seta. It wasn't totally your fault. We'll just forget it happened, right?"

"Yeah, Seta-kun. Just go home and get some rest." Chie suggested with a reassuring smile. "We all need it."

"Alright. I'll... see you guys tomorrow."

We all headed home separately.

-(-)-

"Hey, welcome home." … Uncle? Five. You're actually here for dinner? And _I'm_ the one who ends up being late? Guess I really can't complain about it anymore.

"Hi, Uncle. Hey Nanako." Eight. I greet them as I fall onto my seat at the table.

"Err, well I doubt you'd know but..." Uncle began ,"Have you heard anything about a student named Saki Konishi?"

"Uhh..." I try to remember what that girl was saying earlier. "Oh, that was it. People at school were saying she was the one who discovered that body two days ago."

He sighs. "Yeah, it's true. To be honest, we got a call from her family. She's disappeared." What? "We've got people looking for her but she hasn't been found yet."

I should tell him. It could offset the guilt a little. "Oh. Well if it helps any, I did meet her yesterday."

"Oh? When?"

"After school at Junes. She was working there. Well, more specifically she was on break when I met her. And her... personality quirks aside, she seemed fine. In fact I wouldn't have believed it was really her that found the body if you hadn't confir-hah-HACHOO! … Ugh. Sorry. Guess I'm a bit under the weather."

Uncle didn't hide that he wanted me to keep talking but he chooses to be understanding instead. "Nanako could you fetch some cold medicine for your cousin?" She heads to the kitchen to get it. "Take it and head straight to bed. We can talk more tomorrow."

"Okay. Thanks, Uncle." Nanako comes back with some tablets and a glass of water. I take them and thanked Nanako with a smile.

I make a quick stop at the bathroom and splash some water in my face. Ugh. This guilty conscience is destroying my self-esteem. Whenever I look at myself in the mirror I think 'Zero'.

As soon as I get to my room I fall straight into bed and fall asleep before my head even hits the pillow.

-(-)-

A/N: According to the old author notes I rewrote this a bit, chopping out Yosuke's need to pee. Other than that this was the slow opening that I can't really change much about. Them's the breaks.

Fandom Flux. Yada yada. Youtube.

Thanks for reading.


	5. Grin and Bear It

I _really_ need to change that alarm. It's rapidly becoming a week where I should wake up to whiny American rock bands and not bouncy pop music.

As soon as I get ready and go downstairs, Uncle heads for the door.

"Oh, you're up. Well, I'm off."

"Oh, okay. See you later th-"

* **BANG** *

O...kay? Guess he was in a rush?

"Um, Dad got a call so he left." Nanako tells me.

Oh. Well it must've been important I guess. "Hm. Never mind then. Good morning, Nanako." Eight. That stuff about Saki can wait anyway. I mean I doubt I know anything useful. Yosuke probably knows more than me anyway and I'd be surprised if the police haven't already talked to him.

…Eight? The hell?

And what's this uneasy feeling I'm having?

"Good morning!" She replies with a smile. Always a nice thing to see first thing in the morning. Almost makes you forget crazy fog worlds and clown egg bears and freaky hotel rooms... Almost.

"I think I'll skip breakfast today and take a walk before school. You want me to fix you something before I go?" I ask. Yeah, she does it herself everyday but she is six years old. She shouldn't have to.

"No, that's okay. I'll just have some toast." … I think she just doesn't trust my cooking skills. Hmph. I'll show her.

The rain pretty much ruined the walk I was planning on having. So I headed straight for the school instead. I could relax in my classroom for an hour or so. Play games on my phone or something, I dunno.

Lot of sirens this morning...

… These pieces I have don't make for a pleasant picture. I really hope I'm wrong about this.

-(-)-

School went by surprisingly quickly considering what was on my mind. Yosuke was unusually quiet and that wasn't easing my concern at all. One. Maybe he's still weirded out by yesterday. Yeah. He's probably trying to forget it and having a hard time. Yeah, that has to be it.

Our class starts to head for the special assembly.

 _Please let that be it._

As we walk I hear students talking about some non-specific rumour. I suppose it's got to be a big deal since nobody needs to clarify what people mean when they say 'did you see it?'.

Chie's concerns are elsewhere though. Seven. "Yukiko said she'd be here after lunch." She sighs to herself before turning to talk to me and Yosuke. "I wonder why they're holding a school assembly all of a sudden."

Yosuke stays quiet.

So do I.

"Hey, what's wrong, Yosuke?"

"...Oh, it's nothing." he lies. As soon as we get in the assembly hall the assembly began.

/_"Everyone please settle down. First, the principal has something to say."_\ Pharaoh lady five steps away from the podium so the principal can move in front of the microphone.

/_"I... regret to say I have a terrible announcement for all of you."_\

 _Oh no..._

/_"One of our third-year students, Miss Saki Konishi of class 3..."_\

 _Please no..._

/_"... has passed away."_\

… Chie says something. Yosuke struggles to hold it together.

Me? I leave. I need to find a place to... process things. Third floor by the end stairs. Works well enough. Anywhere I could sit down is gonna get crowded soon anyway. In lieu of a seat, I lean against a wall.

She found the body of the woman that probably had something to do with the fog world. So that means that woman must've been murdered if Saki was... was also killed. So that means... _"Someone's been throwing people in here._ "

So someone is using that world to... kill people?

"You knew." Yosuke. I guess the assembly let out.

"Yeah."

I figure out he punched me after I figured out that it _hurt_. Probably not as much as it could've. He isn't exactly one-hundred percent right now.

"How did you know?" he asks, rubbing his slightly reddened knuckles.

I count on my fingers. "She found the body. She went missing. Last night I told my uncle I met her and this morning he was out the door before I could say a word. He's a detective so he was probably one of the first to know. And finally," I raised a fourth finger. "The amount of sirens blaring this morning is enough to indicate something big happened... Reminds me. Police will probably want to talk to me at some point. You too, actually. If you haven't spoken to them already, that is."

Annnnnd I'm laid out on the floor, a little dizzy too. Yosuke apparently didn't hold back that time. Guess I pissed him off. "How can you be so damn calm about this?! Senpai is...Do you even _care_?"

"... I met a person for the first time two days ago and today it turns out she's dead. This right here is my method. I repress. Some would say it's not healthy but it means I don't go and do something like, say, punch someone in the face?" He's looking at me speculatively. He's not thinking it's a good idea, is he? I don't think the world needs another emotionless wall of stoicism. "That being said, I barely knew her. But I'm sorry for your loss."

"Did you watch it again last night?"

"It?" I ask. Oh. _That._ "No. I had other things on my mind. Why?"

"Something was bothering me, so I watched it again and... and I think the girl on the screen was Saki-senpai." Ohhhh, crap. Time to come clean.

"It was." He looks like he's gonna hit me again. Talk faster. "I recognised her on the night we all watched it but we all thought it was something to do with soulmates or some crap, right? So I kept quiet since I knew you'd be pissed. Yes you would." I answer his protest before he voiced it. "When I realised we'd all seen the same person I figured it was something else entirely so it didn't matter." Wait a minute. "...Now I'm thinking it really did."

"Yeah. When I watched it last night it looked like she was writhing in pain and then... she disappeared from the screen. They're saying that senpai was found in a similar position to Mayumi Yamano, right?"

"I see where you're going with this. Since they were found the same way and killed within days of each other, they were killed by the same person and Yamano was somehow involved with that fog world we were in yesterday. So that means the midnight channel and the murders are connected, right?" He nodded. "I was already with you on the connection between the fog world and the murder thanks to what that egg said."

"Well there's more!" … Why does he sound excited? "I heard Chie talking with Yukiko about the midnight channel and it sounded like someone saw Mayumi Yamano on it before she was killed!"

"It definitely lends credence to the theory."

"I think we need to go back in to that world and investigate!" He's trying to sound determined but I can still hear the excitement in his voice.

"... Are you sure about this? There's a chance we won't be able to get back as easily as we did last time." I warn him.

"Yeah. I need to find out for myself."

"... Then I'm with you." I hope I don't end up regretting this.

Yosuke's grin is very bizarre considering the situation. "Awesome. I'll head straight to Junes and pick up some things. You go find Chie and tell her what's going on. We're gonna need her."

"From that I assume you have a plan? I hope you also have one for how I'm supposed to get Chie to come with us."

"She's not coming with us." What? "Just make sure she comes."

-(-)-

I figured it'd be easier to get Chie to come with me first, then tell her the situation. We're about halfway to Junes and the conversation... "WHAT?!"... could be going better.

"Murders, fog world and midnight channel connected. Yosuke wants to find out what happened. I do too. Yosuke has a plan. You're not going in with us. That's pretty much all I got."

"No, that's not... NO! You could get killed! Just let the police handle it!" she shrieks in rapid fire sentences.

"Handle what? The crazy fog world on the other side of TVs that kills people? The one that as far as we know they don't even know about, let alone being able to get into it?" I ask with a raised eyebrow.

She deflates. "Y-yeah. That."

"C'mon Chie-chan. Be serious. There's no way the police could do anything about this so it's pretty much up to us."

"Ugh. Fine! You wan to risk your life, go right ahead! But I'm not gonna let you drag Yosuke into this too."

"Actually he suggested it before I could."

-(-)-

"You guys came!" Oh, god.

"I came to stop you, idiot!" He's holding a rope. "You really shouldn't do this." Tell me that's not his whole plan. "It's too dangerous!"

"Suddenly, I'm with Chie-chan. Your plan isn't just to have her hold the other end of that rope you're wearing, right? There's no way that's your whole plan... And why are you holding a golf club?"

"What's wrong with that? It means we can get out quick if we need to, right?" No. There are dozens of holes in this plan. "And the golf club? I figured you should have a weapon, just in case." Good. Something to hit him with when his stupid plan fails.

"Look, if all else fails maybe we'll run into that bear again if we go through the same entrance."

"'Maybe' isn't good enough!" Chie shouted.

"Chie, I can't just act like everyone else and pretend this has nothing to do with me. I'm sorry but you can't talk me out of this. Please, just hold onto this rope and wait here. We'll be back soon. I promise." Not bad, Yosuke.

Yosuke hands me the golf club as I sigh. "You ready?"

"Yeah. Let's do this, partner."

I push him through the screen and jump in after him.

-(-)-

Yosuke lands in a roll in front of me. I am decidedly less graceful.

The floor here is really painful. Just like I remember.

"Look! This is the same place as before!" Yes. I recognise this lovely design from the last time I faceplanted on it. "So they _are_ connected from place to place."

I get to my feet, dust myself off and crack my neck. "Not necessarily. It could be they all connect here. We've never tried coming in from somewhere else."

"Y-you guys! Why'd you come back?" Uh? Oh, it's clown egg bear. He walks (or waddles) towards us. "Ohhh, I get it! You're the ones behind this!"

"You're that thing from last time." Glad to see you're on the ball, Yosuke. "Wait, what did you just say?"

"Lately, I can tell someone's been throwing people in here. It's making this world more and more messed up. This is the second time you guys came here and I don't think anyone forced you in. That means you're the most suspicious! You guys must be the ones throwing people in here!" He growls at us. I assume it is supposed to be menacing.

It is not.

I turn to Yosuke. "He does have a point about us being suspicious."

"But we're not the culprits! We're the ones trying to catch the guy doing this!"

"But he... He?" Teddie leans forward. Was that supposed to be a nod? Eh. "He doesn't know that. Maybe we should just tell him what we know."

[several minutes later]

"... and then I came up with this plan to use a rope as a lifeline so we could... we could... umm, Seta?" Yosuke says, lifting the rope that isn't connected to anything anymore, just hanging limply off of him.

"What, you're surprised? I told you that plan wasn't gonna work."

"... Hey, bear! You better let us out of here once we're done investigating." You really need to work on how you ask for favours, Yosuke.

The costumed thing growls at us again. "I'm the one who wants to investigate! Besides, you haven't said anything that proves you're not the ones throwing people in here. Can you prove it? Prove to me you're not the ones responsible."

"And how should we do that?" I ask. "There's no way to prove it."

"Aha! So it is you guys!" Ugh. This is starting to go in circles.

"Look, we know that after being in this world, people come back dead in our world. So if we know that, why would we come here if we're the ones throwing people in? Especially if there's no sure way out?" I try to logic.

"Well..." Phew. He's finally starting to doubt his suspicions. Logic wins the day!

"For the last time, it's not us! We have nothing to prove to you!" Yosuke interrupt. "Now listen, people have died in our world."

"Whenever the fog appears in our world, a dead body shows up with it." I add.

…

… Wait, what? When did I make that connection? It doesn't even make that much sense. I mean it's true but it's not important.

"A dead body... Whenever the fog appears?" Clown egg bear mumbles, trying to adopt a thinking pose. "I know that if it's foggy on your side, the fog lifts here. It's really dangerous when the fog lifts. That's when the shadows get violent!" he continues with a slight quiver in his voice.

"If it's foggy on our side it isn't here? … Shadows get violent? …. I don't get it." Yosuke voices my thoughts before I can.

"Enough questions! I know you guys did it! You better stop right now!"

"Oh, back to this again. We've told you and told you we're not the ones doing it! I've just about had it with you! Why won't you listen to what we're saying?!" Dude, Yosuke. Chill.

"I-I'm just saying you guys might be the culprits! I-I'm just making sure..."

"Okay. This thing is starting to give me a headache. Yosuke, you talk to it." He shot me an irritated look but I ignored it. Sit down, phone, earphone, music, go. Ahhhhhh. Much better. I half listened to the conversation as it carried on.

Yosuke sighed. "What is this place anyways? Looks like a TV studio... Hey, wait! Is that weird show being filmed here?"

"Show? Filmed? What does that mean?"

"Uh... I'm asking if someone has been filming the people who get thrown in here."

"... I don't get it. This world has always been like this. No one's ever done that filming thing here."

"Always been like this? But someone has to have built this place!"

"Only me and shadows are here! I told you before!"

"Ugh! We don't know what these 'shadow things are! Or what you are, for that matter. You keep telling us to prove our innocence but you're the most suspicious thing here! Maybe you're the real culprit. And what's with that stupid costume? I'd say it's time we see who you really are." Wait what? I pull out my earphone to see what Yosuke w-"AAAAAAHHHH!"

… Uhhhh...

In Yosuke's hands is the head of the "bear" costume that we were talking to. Next to him is the rest of the costume, swinging around helplessly, trying to get the head back.

And inside the costume... Nothing. And not the 'Holy crap it's moving on it's own!' kind of nothing. No. It's the 'gaze into the abyss and the abyss also gazes into you' kind of nothing. The fog, the air, even light doesn't reach the inside of the suit. I have never seen anything so terrifying in all my life. On the outside is the costume but on the inside... Nothing. Like the thing on the outside couldn't (or shouldn't) even exist.

Yosuke is the first to recover from the soul-rending horror we're experiencing. Enough to speak, at least. "Wh... What the hell are you? You're... empty... inside." He drops the abomination's head and falls to his knees, disturbed to his very core by what we just witnessed.

The thing takes the opportunity to steal it's head back. "Me? The culprit? I wouldn't do such a thing!" It's like he doesn't even realise he just crippled Yosuke with fear. "I just want to live here peacefully..."

"Uhhm, bear... thing?" Suddenly the idea of it being just a bear is very reassuring. "I think you just broke Yosuke so... maybe we could stop suspecting each other and just... get investigating?"

"... Okay. I'll believe you guys aren't the culprits, but I want you to find the real guy who did all this. You have to stop him. Promise me. Or else I'm not gonna let you guys out of here!" he threatens, big smile plastered on his... how does he do that?

"Give us a minute." I drag Yosuke away from the bear so I can try to snap him out of his daze.

Now how should I do this? I could try talking to him and try to bring him back gently or...

… *Slap* "Yosuke." *Slap* "Yosuke." *Slap* "Yosuke." *Slap* "Yosu-"

"NO GET IT AWAY! … Huh? Seta? What's going on? … Did you just slap me?"

"Well, yeah. You were completely out of it after... something happened. Anyway, I got that bear to agree to get us out of here but we have to promise to help him find out who's causing problems in this world. Since that's pretty much what we were gonna do regardless, I say we do it."

"Dude, you sure we can trust that thing? I don't know why but he really weirds me out." Huh. That wasn't what I meant when I talked about 'repressing' but I'll take it. If he doesn't remember then that's a problem solved for me.

"He seems harmless enough." Yep. No way could the creature filled with a yawning darkness possibly pose a threat.

"Fine. If you're sure then... I guess I'm in too."

We walk back over to the bear thing as he stars into space. "You've got a deal." I begin. "We promise that if you help us then we'll catch the guy who is using this world to kill people and causing so many problems here."

"Y-yeah." Yosuke eyes the bear suspiciously.

"I'm Seta Souji. Nice to meet you."

"..." I elbowed him. "Oof. Oh. Sorry. I'm Yosuke Hanamura. So you got a name?"

"... Teddie."

"Ugh. Figures. Anyway, how're we supposed to find the culprit in the first place?" Good question.

"I dunno. But I know where the last person came in." Huh. So Yosuke was right about the entrances then. Oh well. My mistake.

"Last person? … You mean Saki-senpai?!" Yosuke's mood seems to brighten at this a little.

"I mean the person who came in and disappeared last time. I don't know the name. I'll take you there. You might find clues. Oh! You should put these on first though." Teddie pulls out two pairs of glasses from his... from somewhere and hands them to us.

"What're these for?" Yosuke asked. He puts them on and his eyes behind the lenses go wide. "Whoa! The difference is like night and day! It's like the fog doesn't even exist!"

I put on the pair I was given and Yosuke was right. Well, mostly. The fog is still there but I can see thirty feet away rather than three. "Where did you get these?" I ask Teddie.

"I made 'em! I'm a beary capable bear!"… Gonna pretend I didn't hear that. "You guys can rely on me! Those glasses'll help you see through the fog." Teddie explains. "Now I can take you to where that person came in but you guys will have to defend yourselves."

"What?! What happened to being able to rely on you? Th-there better not be any monsters, got it?!" Note to self: Yosuke gets angry when he's scared. "I mean we brought weapons but they're mostly for show..." Really? Here I was expecting this golf club to turn into a shotgun or something.

"Nuh-uh. No way. I've got no muscles. Oh! But I could give you guys moral support from a safe distance. How's that sound?" Teddie smiles to himself. He expected that would be good enough.

I disagree. In the form of a palm thrust to the face.

… Okay. No way did I hit him hard enough to cause that. "H-help!" Teddie squeals as he wriggled around on the floor helplessly. He wasn't lying then. He is now though. Lying _down_ that is. Heheh. Heh.

… Sorry.

"Ugh, this is so lame." Hey, I said I was sor- Oh. You can't hear my thoughts. Right. "Is this thing for real?"

"Doesn't really matter." I answer Yosuke's rhetorical question. "We need him so we can get out of here. Let's help him up so we can get going."

-(-)-

"What is this place...? It looks just like the shopping district."

Yosuke's observation isn't wrong. The place Teddie led us to looks like an exact replica of the shopping district in Inaba. Except foggier.

"Weird places have appeared here recently." Teddie explains for us.

"Why are you standing so far away from us anyway?" Yosuke asks him suspiciously. "You better not be planning to high-tail it if something comes up!"

"O-of course not! I-I'm just keeping my distance so I don't... you know... get in the way." Liar.

Yosuke seems as doubting as I am but chooses to ignore the obvious lie. "But why replicate this place, anyway? I mean they really went all out on it."

"How should I know?" Teddie whines. "This is reality for the one who's here."

"Yosuke sighs. "As usual, nothing you say makes any sense... Wait. If this is the shopping district then we're not far from Saki-senpai's..." He trails off before running further ahead, leaving Teddie and I confused and with no choice but to follow him.

We catch up to him outside of a building that has a similar entrance to the one that led to that creepy hotel room.

"I knew it! This is the liquor store that senpai's parents run. So that means... senpai disappeared here?"

"Well that door confirms something, at least. Saki and Mayumi Yamano were both in this world before they died."

Out of nowhere, Teddie looks distraught. "W-wait a second! They're here!"

"Huh?" Yosuke and I turn to Teddie and say at the same time

"Shadows! I had a feeling they were going to attack."

"What are you talking about? What are-" My questions die as I sense movement from behind me.

-(-)-

A/N: Okay. Still just editing stuff. That will also be the case for next chapter but it might get a bit more of a rewrite than others. Then after that I have to add in entirely new scenes.

Fandom Flux. Youtube.

Thanks for reading


	6. Yosuke Hanamura

Black goo.

That's what it looks like. Black goo slithering around on the floor with a blue mask somehow attached to it. Yosuke falls backwards, practically paralysed with fear.

The things... Shadows, Teddie called them. They look at me. Without a hint of hesitation they head straight for me, ignoring Yosuke as they pass him. As they near they begin to rise into the air and change shape. The goo gathers into a near spherical shape as the mask remains facing me, almost as if it's staring at me. They begin to change colour. Rather than plain black, it's becoming covered in a pink and black stripe pattern. Still floating, the shadow flips itself forwards to reveal what was on the other side. A giant mouth, complete with a long demonic tongue and oddly human-like teeth.

Shadows are... strange. Is the only thought that passes through my thoroughly disturbed mind.

 **-I art thou-**

That voice!

 **-Thou art I-**

Much gentler this time. It still aches but it's bearable, at least.

 **-The time has come. Open thine eyes. Call forth what is within!-**

As though by some instinct I didn't know I had, I do exactly that. Appearing in my hand as if from nowhere is a card. Blank. Wait. It's not. Like there's something but at the same time there isn't. A bright light begins to shine out of the card and just like that, I know what to do.

"Per.."

One little word.

"so..."

That brings the power of your soul to bear.

"... _na!_ "

As I utter the last syllable a from appears on the card before it ignites with blue flame. It doesn't burn. It isn't even warm. That makes the next step much easier.

I crush the card in my hand, it shattering like glass. I can only describe the feeling as relief as the power flows through and out of me. The feeling of pressure that power inflicted on me forces me to scream in pain but I hold firm. This is necessary. This is what has to happen.

As the feeling recedes, I know what's standing behind me. My persona.

Izanagi.

I swing the golf club in my left hand lazily before switching it to my right.

Shadows, huh?...Okay. Let's see if we can make them swallow some of those pearly whites.

I dash for the closest shadow, ducking on instinct before it's long and undoubtedly heavy tongue can connect with my head. I swing my club horizontally with as much force as my untrained arms can manage and strike the floating mouth right in the teeth. Several of said teeth shatter from the impact.

Violence is _fun_!

"On your left!" Teddie shouts a warning. I jump to the right to dodge the new enemy that arrives to back up it's buddy. Looks like they're teaming up now.

"Any ideas?" I ask anyone who would answer.

"Shadows have weaknesses! Just try stuff out and see if anything works!" is the high-pitched reply I receive.

Try stuff out, eh? Okay. I summon the card in my hand and crush it, mentally choosing a random skill since I don't understand what any of them are. What the hell language is 'Zio' anyway?

...Seems it means electricity. And also 'thing mouthballs really don't like' since the one I hit with the attack is twitching on the floor. This just got a whole lot easier.

"It's weak against electricity! Zap it!"

I summon the skill again and use it on the shadow that's still floating. It doesn't fall to the floor like the first. Instead it explodes, splashing its surroundings with some sort of odd, foul-smelling substance.

Now, how to kill the other one... I think I'll vent a little with this one. I stick the head of the golf club into it's still open mouth as the tongue continues to twitch. Then lift – heavier than I thought – and _slam!_ Lift and _slam!_ Lift and _slam!_... I should have thought this through more.

The shadow explodes the same way the other one did. Only this time I get covered with the slime too. "Aww, I'm still wearing my uniform, dammit!" I mean I have a spare but still. Eww. At least it's over though.

I summon Izanagi once more so I can get a good look at it. Humanoid in shape but distinctly not human. For one thing, the lower half of it's legs are blades. I don't remember the part in Izanagi's myth where he chopped off his feet, Gold Lion Shiki style. However, the legs are nowhere near as menacing as the fifteen-foot naginata in his right hand. If you were to remove the pole, the blade would still resemble a katana. He wears a long dark-coloured coat. A white mask covers his face, long ribbons hang from it and sway in the breeze his power exhudes. Yellow eyes can be seen but I can't tell whether they're his actual eyes or just part of the mask.

The overall effect is an aura of 'don't screw with me little worm or I will mess you up'.

I like it.

I turn to look for Teddie and Yosuke to make sure they're okay but the fact that Yosuke is already right there with a huge grin on his face says as much.

"Whoa! What was that?! Did I hear you say 'Persona'? What was it – I mean, what did you do?!"

"Well if you'd let me-"

"Hey, you think I could do it too?!"

Teddie waddles up to us to interrupt Yosuke's excited babbling. "Calm down, Yosuke. You're troubling sensei!" Eh?

"S-sensei?" Yosuke asks, puzzled.

Teddie ignores him. "Gosh almighty! That was amazing, sensei! I am one impressed bear! I can't believe you were hiding such an amazing power! No wonder the shadows were scared of you. Did you already face yourself?"

That's a good point, now that I think about it. Yosuke was defenceless and closer. Why did the shadows head straight for me instead?

… Did they know, somehow?

Sudden violence gains my attention. Yosuke pushed Teddie, causing him to roll back and forth on the spot before landing on his feet again. How does he do that? "Dude, you call him 'sensei' and don't show _me_ any respect?"

"Sorry..."

Yosuke actually looks a little guilty at that. "W-well, your support wasn't bad, though. I gotta give you some credit for that."

"Huh? R-really? Heehee!" Ahh, flattery. Best way to apologise when you don't really want to _actually_ apologise.

"Alright. You two keep it up and I think we'll be fine from here out. Let's get back to it." Yosuke leads the way towards the portal that is the entrance to the Konishi liquor store. But before we reach the entrance we start hearing strange disembodied voices.

One day. Just one where I don't hear spooky voices. 'S all I ask.

Most of the voices are bad-mouthing Junes, blaming it for all of the problems in the world, up to and including cancer. Or are they saying the store is a cancer? I dunno. I just heard the word cancer.

Then the voices get a bit more relevant. They start talking about Saki as if she were traitor scum for working at Junes. Understandably, Yosuke isn't taking this well. "Hey... Hey, Ted! You said this place is reality for those that are here, right?! So does that mean... this was senpai's reality when she wandered in here?"

… _Oh._

"I... only know about what's over here." Teddie says apologetically.

"... Fine. Whatever's going on here, we're going to find out ourselves."

I decide to stay quiet and followed him through the portal.

This is gonna get worse before it gets better.

-(-)-

Through the portal is exactly what you'd expect from the inside of a liquor store. Shelves lined with bottles of various spirits, advertisements for different brands, and spooky voices.

No liquor store is complete without spooky voices.

Actually, listening to it, it's just one voice. And Yosuke quickly figures out who it was. "I-Is this... senpai's dad?"

" _You know what the neighbours say about you right?! Aren't you ashamed of yourself?! You're the eldest daughter of a family that owned this store for generations! Is it the money? Or did you meet some guy there? Just tell me why you have to work THERE of all places!"_

"I... I can't believe this." Yosuke murmurs weakly. "She seemed like she had fun at work... She never said anything about this to me. You're telling me _this_ was how senpai really saw things?!"

Stay quiet. Nothing you say will make things easier.

Yosuke notices something on the counter nearby and picks it up. "These photos... This is... This is the staff photo we took with the other part-timers at Junes. But why's it cut up like this?" I look over his shoulder at the photo. Yosuke and Saki are next to each other, smiling.

Saki's eyes do not match the rest of her expression.

" _I... never had the chance to say it._ " … Well I wasn't expecting this.

"Is that... senpai's voice?!" Yes it is. Now you get to hear it straight from her. It'll be easier in the long run but...

" _I always wanted to tell Hana-chan..._ "

"Huh? Me?"

This is gonna suck.

" _... That he was a real pain in the ass."_

Harsh.

" _The only reason I was nice to him was because he was the store manager's son. That's all. But he takes it completely the wrong way and gets all enthusiastic. What a dip_."

Harsher than I expected, even.

"P-pain in the ass?"

" _Who cares about Junes, anyway? Because of that store our business is ruined, my parents hate me, the neighbours talk behind my back... I wish everything would just disappear!_ "

"I-it's a lie." Nope. "This can't be." It is.

I shudder involuntarily. Is it cold in here or something?

"Senpai's not like that!" Yosuke shouts at the ceiling defiantly.

However, Yosuke's anguish is cut off by... Yosuke? "I **t's soooo sad. I feel so sorry for myself. Boo hoo!** "

We turn to see where the new voice is coming from. In the corner of the room stands another Youske, except this one has solid yellow eyes.

And a creepier voice. " **Actually, I'm the one who thinks everything's a pain in the ass! Hahaha!** "

"Huh? Two Yosukes!" Teddie shares in my confusion.

I whisper to him. "Teddie, what the hell is going on?"

He does not whisper back. Stupid bear. "This is beary bad! That's a shadow! _His_ shadow!"

"What?!"

Yosuke's argument with... himself continues.

" **How long are you going to keep deluding yourself? Screw the shopping district and Junes too! You're sick of everything, especially living out in the sticks!** "

"What're you saying? That's not true. I-"

" **You put on a good show of being carefree and happy-go-lucky because you're so terrified of being alone! You know what they say! The more the merrier, right? You've gotta be surrounded by people to block out the pain of isolation... And then he showed up.** "

Huh? Why's it looking at me? " **Transfer student from the big city, just like you. Only he was new. He was interesting. Just like that the spotlight was on him. Hitting him felt good, right? After all, he deserved it for soaking up all the attention.** "

"Shut up!"

" **And what's this about you checking out this world for Saki-senpai's sake? Hah! I know the real reason you came snooping.** "

"Stop it!"

" **Hahaha! Why so panicked? I thought I was just spouting bullshit! Or maybe... I** _ **do**_ **know everything you're thinking. Because I** _ **am**_ **you!** "

"We need to stop this now or that thing is gonna go bearzerk!" Teddie warns me.

"I don't think Yosuke is even listening to us anymore. How do we stop it?"

"..."

"That's what I thought."

" **You just came because you thought it'd be a good time! What else is there to do in this shithole? I mean a world inside a TV? Now** _ **that's**_ **exciting! You didn't have a single other reason for coming here, did you?** "

"It's not true... Stop... Stop it..."

" **You're just trying to act like a big-shot! Hey! If all went well maybe you could even be a hero! And that senpai you were so sweet on? Her death was the** _ **perfect**_ **excuse.** "

Yosuke completely loses it. "That's not true! Who are you? What are you?!"

The shadow laughs mockingly. " **I already told ya. I'm you. Your shadow. There's nothing I don't know about you.** "

"Screw that! I don't know you!" Yosuke screams at the shadow. "YOU CAN'T BE ME YOU SON OF A BITCH!"

Everything goes quiet for a second. Then the shadow begins laughing again. First a quiet chuckle, then a mad cackle. " **Hahahaha! That's right! Say it again!** "

"Y-you're not me... You're nothing _like_ me!"

" **Hmhmhmhm. Yeah. That's right.** _ **I**_ **am** _ **me**_ **now. I'm not you anymore, see?** "

The shadow starts to glow brightly as dark forms seem to flow towards it. I can't tell what's happening save for Yosuke – the _real_ Yosuke – falling again. Probably not his fault this time... Mostly. Well technically it is since he's him and... this is getting confusing.

Eventually the light fades and Yosuke's shadow is definitely not the way we left it. It looks like a ten foot tall man wearing rubber gloves and riding a giant frog.

I wish I was making this up.

"So... This thing probably wants to kill us, right?" I ask.

"Uh-huh." Teddie leans forward in a nod.

"So I should fight it."

"Uh-huh."

"Any more helpful hints?"

"... Not really? Don't get stepped on, I guess." his body bounces in a shrug.

"Awesome."

" **I am a shadow... The true self. I'll crush everything that bores me, starting with you!** "

The frog rears up on it's hind legs and slams down, releasing a strong, visible shockwave. It's too much for me to keep my balance and I fall backwards. The thing doesn't waste it's chance and tries to stomp me into paste. I roll left to avoid what would probably have been a fatal injury.

That was the wrong direction. I end up directly underneath the behemoth, right where it can easily stomp me again. I catch a lucky break as I frantically scramble to get out of the very vulnerable position. I get lucky when one of it's legs kicks me out from under it. " **How long can you survive this?** " It asks.

I sit up with a groan. "You were Yosuke, right? True self and all that? Doesn't that mean, technically, that you were the one to punch me?" I grip my golf club tight. "Twice."

" **Haha! Yeah. Good times.** "

"Heh. Yeah. I haven't paid him back for that yet though." I stand up fully and point the club at him. "You present an excellent opportunity. Aren't you lucky?"

My side aches from that kick. It was convenient but incredibly painful. I need to counterattack. Now. What are the chances of Zio working again though?

… Not that bad, apparently. The bolt of lightning strikes the frog head-on. It slumps forward, it's legs no longer working. Time for more experimenting. What else do I have? Rakukaja? No idea. Give it a go.

… "Nothing happened. Awesome."

"That skill made you tougher, sensei! Getting hit will do less damage to you!" Teddie chimes in.

"Really? Okay, more useful than I first though then."

The frog is starting to recover from it's shock, attempting to stand up. "Can't have that." I mutter, before casting Zio attacks in quick succession. Hurts it and keeps it incapacitated. This fight'll be easier than I thought.

"Sensei! You're running low on spiritual power!"

Huh? "What does that mean?!"

"If you keep using that move you'll run out!"

That... could be bad.

I try another Rakukaja. That doesn't work. Try something else then. "CLEAVE! IZANAGI!" Izanagi flies forward and delivers a horizontal slash to the rider part of the shadow with the blade of his naginata. It's not as effective as you'd expect but it worked and that's enough for now.

" **Heh. That's it? Boring.** " the shadow taunts. It's a bluff. All of those electric attacks did some serious damage. Still, I have to go without now. This is gonna get complicated.

"SHIT!" The shadow is rearing, preparing another attack. I dive behind the counter where Teddie is cowering.

"This is beary bad!"

"I noticed." I need a plan if I'm getting us all out of here. What do we have? A golf club. Near useless. A persona attack. Somewhat useful. A whole hell of a lot of glass bottles.

… Glass bottles. Filled with alcohol.

"I have a plan."

"I knew you'd think of something, sensei!"

"Yeah, I'm pretty great. I need you to start throwing these full bottles at that thing in a second.

Teddie gives me a puzzled look. "Huh? Why me?"

"Because I'll be busy distracting it from you."

"O-okay..." Teddie agrees, picking up bottles awkwardly.

"Start throwing in a few seconds, okay?" I ask rhetorically before leaping back over the counter.

It's... way closer than I thought it'd be. As I come over the counter the rider swings one of its gargantuan hands around to swat me into a wall. Reacting quickly, I summon my persona for the distraction a bit earlier than I planned. Just as the hand swings towards me its aim gets thrown off by Izanagi's naginata slashing into the rider's back. Taking the split second opportunity I run around to the side of the creature. Instead of finishing me off, it looks for the actual threat that stabbed it in the back, finding nothing, Izanagi vanished immediately after attacking.

And then came the stuffed animal cavalry, chucking bottles of whatever it can get hold of that smash on the shadow's body. Understandably furious, the shadow whirls around again in the direction of the now terrified Teddie.

"HEY!" I yell to get its attention. It looks at me for a split second but decides to focus on getting rid of the irritation first. That is, until its brain catches up with what it just saw.

In my hand I hold my persona card. As the shadow looks back at me in a double take and realises what it's covered in, I allow a malevolent grin to spread across my face. Not saying anything, I crush the card in my hand.

The towering form of Izanagi appears, pointing his polearm at the rider before an arc of electricity leaps from it and into the shadow.

The shadow soaked in alcohol.

" **AAAAAAAGH!"** the thing screams in agony as the flames consume it, burning it alive until its form starts to dissolve into shadow sludge, conveniently extinguishing the flames.

… Actually, that _is_ really convenient. We're in a _liquor store_ that I set on _fire_.

I almost killed us all.

Oops.

I feel a surge as I try to catch my breath. It doesn't help. However, I suddenly have a new persona skill. Rakunda. I can guess what it does. If I'm right I might be able to do some real damage even with a damn golf club.

I sit down on the floor and lean my back on the counter, being careful to avoid the broken glass. That fight took everything out of me. All of my 'spiritual power' as Teddie called it.

Teddie goes over to Yosuke – the real one – as he's still laying on the floor... Right next to a broken bottle.

 _So_ glad that fire went out.

Yosuke groggily starts to stand up. "Are you okay, Yosuke?!" Teddie asks, concerned.

"Y-yeah. What happened?"

"Your shadow went bear-err, I mean berserk. Tried to kill us. Almost succeeded." I answer, still sitting on the floor. I grab a nearby non-smashed bottle.

I have no idea what this is. Is this label in Russian? They sell imported Russian spirits here?

… I'm underage.

… I just killed a giant frog monster with cleansing fire.

… Screw it. My life will clearly be too short if it continues like this. I open the bottle and take a sizable drink from it. Or try to. In hindsight drinking straight spirits as my first taste of alcohol was probably not my smartest idea as my coughing fit can attest.

"You... You're not... me." Yosuke says.

Trying to recover from my coughing, I look up and see that Shadow Yosuke is still there, though back in its original Yosuke-shaped form. It actually looks a little sad.

"That thing came from you Yosuke. You have to admit it or it'll go bearzerk again." Teddie warns carefully. Those puns aren't going away, are they?

I cough one last time loudly. "Yep. That thing is you." I interject. "You wanted to play hero. And you hated me at least a little since I got here." He opens his mouth to shout a protest. "But a hero is the guy who steps forward and _does something_ , regardless of his motivation. And despite your initial opinion of me, you never acted on it..." I feel like I'm just rambling at this point. "What I'm trying to say is there's more to you than the things your shadow said."

"... Dammit... It hurts to face yourself. I mean I knew it wasn't lying but... I was so ashamed I didn't want to admit it." He turns to face his shadow. "You're me... and I'm you. When you get down to it, all of this is me."

The shadow nods and fades away. The instant it does another figure replaces it, floating in the air above where the shadow stood. It looks not unlike the rider from its shadow form. Except it's dressed in what looked like a white disco outfit and a red scarf. Somehow I know its name.

The persona. Jiraiya.

"... This is my persona..." He acknowledges weakly before he sits down next to me. He looks about as tired as I am. "When we heard senpai's voice, I wonder if that was something she was keeping deep down inside. Heh. 'He was a real pain in the ass', huh? What a way to find out. Geez, this is so embarrassing."

I offer him the bottle. He refused. Smart man.

I take another, more measured, drink and start coughing a bit again. Note for the future. Mixers.

Yosuke turns to me. "If you weren't here, I don't know what woulda happened. Thanks, Seta."

"N-no problem." I reply in a weak voice. I clear my throat in an attempt to fix it. "Besides, it wasn't all me. You should've seen Teddie! Lobbing bottles like freaking hand-grenades!" I laugh a little at the memory.

"Teddie is here to help!" Teddie announces, referring to himself in the third-person.

"Yeah." I continue. "We're all in this together. We all faced your personal demons. Just promise to help me with mine if they ever show up and we're even." I finish with a smile.

"Yeah! You got it, partner!"

-(-)-

Teddie lead the way back to the entrance while me and Yosuke followed, barely keeping pace with the bear.

Out of nowhere, Yosuke speaks up with an insight. "Hey, Ted? Could senpai have been attacked by her other self here like how it happened to me?"

"I think so. The shadows here were all born from humans. Sometimes the fog clears and they all go b-"

" _Don't._ " I warn.

"... crazy. They go crazy. And you saw what happens next. A strong-willed shadow draws others to it and the big mass of shadows kills the host."

"So that's why people die when it gets foggy in our world..." Yosuke guesses.

I pose my own question. "Teddie, how did you know that it gets foggy in our world when the fog clears here?"

"Huh?" Both Teddie and Yosuke ask.

"I mean I said people die on foggy days but I didn't know why I said it. Then you said the fog clears here when fog descends in our world. How do you know? You said you've never been to our world."

"... I... I don't know." Teddie looks confused, like he hadn't noticed this discrepancy.

"... Interesting." I mutter. "So all you remember is being here in this world but you have knowledge of other places even though there was no one to tell you of them?"

"I guess so?"

"... Problem for another time, then. We'll help with that too, if we can. Right Yosuke?"

"Uhh, sure. Why not." he shrugs. "So those places formed when Saki-senpai and Yamano-san arrived here?"

"Yeah. It seems that way. Those places weren't there until I sensed someone else in this world." Teddie answers as though following our reasoning but not knowing for sure.

"So Yamano-san and Saki-senpai got thrown in here, wandered around and got attacked like we were?" Yosuke asks, beginning to understand.

"No. They weren't attacked by regular shadows like we were. No shadows attacked them until the fog cleared. I'd guess it was their own shadows that killed them after going be-" I glared at the bear. "Crazy."

"Wait." I speak for the first time in a while. "So if someone gets thrown in here we might be able to get them out if we find them before the fog clears?"

"Probably. The shadows'll attack us. I guess they don't like people investigating this place. But anyone not here of their own will will probably be fine until we get to them. Long as we get to them before the fog clears."

"... That's great!" I exclaim. I turn to Yosuke. "While we try to find out who's doing this we can make sure they don't kill anyone else!"

"Dammit. If I'd've been here on my own I would've been in much deeper trouble. And Yamano-san and Saki-senpai had no one here to help them. We need to make sure it never happens again." Yosuke is clearly determined. I was right about the hero thing then.

We finally reach the entrance. Man, even walking is exhausting for me now. I'll have to stop by the food court before going home.

"Okay. I'll let you guys out now. I'll wait for you to come back here. Remember, you need to come in from the same place so we can meet up. If not, you might show up someplace I can't get to you. Then you'd be doooooomed." Teddie warns us. Yes, he extended the 'oooooo'. "Got it?"

"Got it. We'll be back when something comes up."

"Can you show us the exit now?" Yosuke requests, clearly anxious to leave.

"Roger that! One exit, comin' right up!" He wiggles his arm again and TVs appear out of nowhere, just like last time.

"Cool! Now to check that there aren't any employees milling around out there."

"Okay! Go go go! Squiiiiiish!" Teddie shoves us through. Again, just like last time.

I'm gonna throttle him the next time I see him.

Or I would, if he had a neck.

-(-)-

A/N: Alright. Here's a chapter that I edited quite a bit more than the last few. Clearing up some of the conversations a bit, tense fixes (of course. I think at this point I settled on past tense but I think present works better), and most significantly, the shadow fight. I rewrote the entire ending of it because the original was kind of dumb. I mean really, Seta realises he's surrounded by bottles of alcohol and decides to bottle the shadow rather than light it up? Missed opportunity or what? Also Seta has a more... _realistic_ reaction to drinking spirits for the first time.

Think that's it. Usual plug, Fandom Flux youtube channel. Writing talk, storytelling talk, shit talk, LPs. Good fun.

Thanks for reading.


	7. Return to the Blue Room

Chie wears shorts under her skirt. This is disappointing. Seven.

"Ahh!" she squeals, teary-eyed. "Y-you guys came baaaack!"

"Huh? Chie? What's with that face?" Yosuke asks, completely oblivious.

I whisper to Yosuke from the floor. "The rope broke, you moron! She's been here for hours thinking we had no way back!"

As if to confirm what I said, Chie throws the rest of the rope at Yosuke. He's still tired from earlier though, so the force knocks him on his ass.

"The nerve of you guys! You are such morons! You guys suck! The rope got cut off and... I had no idea what to do! I was so worried. I mean scared stiff, dammit! I hate you both!" Chie runs off as soon as she stops yelling wiping at her face as she goes.

Yosuke groggily gets to his feet. "I think that... kinda sorta... might've been our fault."

"It was totally our fault." I reply, still on the floor. I'll get up when I'm good and ready, thank you.

"Yeah. Maybe we did go a little too far. We'll apologise tomorrow. I'm completely wiped out so I'm gonna go home, soak in the shower and get some sleep." More detail than I needed but whatever. He pauses as if in reflection. "I think... I'm gonna sleep well tonight. See you in the morning. Heheh." He walks off, not bothering to help me up. I guess to be fair, he probably couldn't anyway in the condition he's in.

"See ya."

… Lying on the floor of a department store, smelling of booze, under age. Yeah. This'll turn out well.

I get to my feet, using the frame of the TV for support. Okay. Standing. Awesome.

Three-stage plan to not get caught. Stage one. Get food to get some strength back. Stage two. Head straight home as fast as I can manage. Stage three. Wash my uniform and take a shower before uncle gets home.

… Stage four. Stash the vodka bottle I'm carrying in my room somewhere. Hee!

-(-)-

I got halfway through stage two before hitting a snag. As I was walking along the flood plain on the way home, Yukiko spotted me from a nearby picnic table. Two.

… Ignoring her would be rude. It's... 6:15. That means Uncle will be home really soon... or possibly hours from now... Then again, after what happened today I'd be surprised if he came home at all tonight. Why am I worrying?

"Hey." I greet her as I walk over. We chat simply for a few minutes. Why is she wearing a kimono?

I must've been staring because she's blushing a little as she explains. "Oh. I'm running an errand for my parents." before expertly changing the subject. "A-are you getting used to your new school?"

Honest answer. "I have no idea." Seriously. For the last two days I've barely been aware that school was happening.

She smiles. "It must be difficult moving to a place you know nothing about. I've never been out of Inaba so I wouldn't know what it's like to transfer to a new school."

"You get used to the routine of it if you do it enough. Show up, awkwardly introduce yourself, make a few friends, abandon those friends, move to a new place, repeat."... Too much honesty. Change the subject.

"Umm, are you getting along with Chie?" Oh. You changed it for me. That's considerate of you. "I always leave early so... um..."

… Lie. "... We're getting along." She didn't step on me earlier so that's a good sign, right?

She smiles brighter this time. "I'm glad to hear that. She's very supportive, you know? Always giving me the little extra push I need. We had homeroom together last year too. I remember when we used to cut class sometimes..."

Yukiko cut short her reminiscing as she had somewhere she needed to be. She must be pretty busy if she can say something like 'the inn can't function without her'.

We said our goodbyes and headed in our separate directions.

Please don't be home. Please don't be home. Please don't be home...

-(-)-

"YES!" No car in the driveway! I'm safe!

"Welcome home." Nanako says before scrunching up her face as I walk through the door . "You smell bad." Well said, Nanako. Eight.

She's definitely not wrong, though. I'm surprised Yukiko didn't notice.

… Then again, she probably _did_ notice. That girl is too polite. "I'm gonna go take a bath. You need the bathroom before I take it over?"

"No, it's fine." She grumbles, face still scrunched.

I head upstairs, taking a second to stash the three-quarter full vodka bottle in the fridge in my room, before going straight for the bathroom. Forty minutes later I'm clean and my uniform rinsed and sprayed with some air-freshener before I throw it in with the wash.

No way in hell is that going to fool anyone. Have to try though.

I sit down in a fresh set of clothes at the table with Nanako. The only acknowledgement I receive is a dejected sounding "Dad's late".

We watch the news together. Unsurprisingly it's another piece on the murders. They're going over the basic things I already know. The only thing of note is:

/_The coroner's report has established her time of death at around 1:00AM last night_\

Saki's death was shown on the midnight channel so the timeframe makes sense. Strange how convenient it is though.

"Another incident..." Nanako mumbles. "Dad won't be coming home tonight."

"No... I'll be here though." I do my best to offer a reassuring smile.

"I'll be okay. Can you help me do some stuff around the house?"

"Sure."

/_Amagi Inn, located upstream of the Samegawa River, is the town's oldest historical landmark._\ Hm? They're doing a piece on Yukiko's inn. Hooray for more coincidences, I guess.

/_Vacationers are known to travel surprising distances in order to visit its open-air, radium-rich hot springs. After the incident with Ms Yamano, the manager has stepped aside, leaving her daughter Yukiko to fill her shoes. In other words, she's a manager who's still in high school._\

Yukiko is on TV, waiting at a bus stop. Wait a second, I know that reporter's voice. Isn't that the same guy who did the interview with...

/_Let's see if we can interview her! _Excuse me!_ _\

Oh balls.

/_"Hm? Umm... Are you speaking to me?"_\

/_ We heard that you're the new manager. Is it true you're still in high school?_\

 _Run, Yukiko!_

/_"Oh, well I'm only filling in temporarily."_\

/_Someday, though... That aside, wow! You are looking _gorgeous_ in that kimono! You must have a lot of male visitors!_\

/_"Huh?! No, um..."_\

 _Run fast!_

"...This is boring."

Not the word I would use but I agree with not watching any more.

I helped Nanako with the chores around the house, even offering to do some laundry for her. Just because I'm nice like that. No ulterior motives at all.

I was upstairs by ten, spending a while just sitting on my couch trying to process everything that's happened over the last few days. Everything seems to have happened all at once so it's hard to keep track.

So there's a world on the other side of TVs that warps to match the mind of people who go there. If people stay too long then the fog that covers it disappears and this causes the 'shadows' – the parts of that person's personality that they don't like – to go insane and kill them. Then there's persona, which if I'm understanding right is a person's shadow that they accept as part of themselves. Except for mine for some reason. And there's a magical bear that lives in this TV world.

… Or I'm going insane.

Occam's razor. Simplest explanation is usually the correct one.

So I'm going or have already gone insane. Nothing I can do about it. Might as well roll with it.

Midnight. Time for super crazy TV fun time.

I walk over to the TV as an image starts to form on the screen. However, this time something is different. The first time I watched it the image was clear but constantly switched back and forth from the image to static. This time it's incredibly blurry. I can barely even make it out. There's barely any colour either.

A woman. Dark hair. Wearing a kimono.

… Nah. Every woman in Inaba probably owns at least one kimono. It'd be foolish to jump to the conclusion that it's Yukiko.

Yosuke'll have watched this too. Time for some well-deserved and _much_ needed sleep.

-(-)-

"Welcome."

… Blue. Freaky-looking guy, bored-looking girl and... Wait, _what the fuck?!_

Nose-man – what was his name, again? – chuckles. "It seems you remember your first visit with us. Do not be alarmed. You are fast asleep in the real world. I have summoned you within your dreams."

"NOPE. Nope nope nope!" I say loudly, waving my arms in a negative fashion. "I'm going to take a wild guess and say you guys are somehow involved with me suddenly having superpowers and that's fine. But," I say, pointing at the new occupant, "What the hell is Akiba doing here?"

"Akiba?" the girl in the blue hat asks, sounding genuinely confused.

"You're dressed like a fashion victim from downtown Tokyo!" I exclaim.

She... looks even more confused. "I don't get it."

I hold her gaze for a second, trying to figure out what her deal is before giving up and looking to Igor instead. "Why is she here?"

"If I may," the other, older woman in the room interjects, getting a nod from Igor to continue. "Marie here is a resident of the Velvet Room, just the same as the Master and I. Like us, she is here to help you on your journey. I understand she can be a tad brusque but please be patient with her. She is a rather young soul and-"

"Hey!", the now named Marie (who I'm still going to call Akiba) interrupts. "Don't tell him things he doesn't need to know." she snaps.

The older woman's response is just to raise her hands in a surrendering gesture before folding them in her lap again.

I look between the two women and just roll my eyes in acceptance of this... Whatever it is. "Okay, so I have superpowers now?" I ask... Igor? Yeah, Igor, that was it.

Only instead of Igor, Margaret speaks again. "This is a space that only those who have, in one way or another, entered into a contract may enter. In your daily life, you subconsciously heard the call to awaken and chose to follow the destiny of your inner voice, thereby enacting the glorious awakening to your power." Yes. Your monotone makes it sound absolutely thrilling.

"Hold on to this." Igor tells me as a blue key appears in front of me out of nowhere and floats down into my hand. "From this night forth, you are our guest in this Velvet Room. Your destiny will require you to hone your power and for that, you will inevitably require our help."

"Fantastic. I appreciate it. So what kind of help are we talking about here?" 

"We will discuss that in due time. For now, understand that there is but one price for this assistance. You must abide by your contract and assume responsibility for all decisions you may make."

I hope by 'contract' he means the promise I made Teddie. Otherwise I have no idea what he's talking about. "So you help me and all you want in return is for me to do what I said I was going to do? Well no need to worry about that."

"Very well." That really is an unnerving smile he has. I think it's the bulging, bloodshot eyes that does it. "Look inside yourself. The persona you have acquired, you may think of it as... a facade of determination you wear to face various difficulties in life."

Yyyyyes, that is a definition of the word 'persona'. I'm pretty sure most peoples' masks don't have lightning powers though.

"Your persona ability, however, is that of the wild card. Compared to that of others, it is very special. It is like the number zero. Empty, yet holding infinite potential within itself."

Zero. I wonder if he meant to do that. "That's too specific a metaphor. Whenever I see myself I think 'Zero'. My cousin is Eight. My friends are One and Seven. Tell me what the numbers mean?"

"Hmhmhm. You are a fool. That is all I will tell you."

"Okay, okay! If you wanna stay cryptic that's fine. No need to resort to insults."

His grin spreads wider... Not an insult? Google search for later: persona, shadow, fool. "The persona ability is the ability to control one's own heart. And the heart is strengthened through bonds. As you form bonds by becoming involved with others, your own social links will gradually develop. The power of these social links is what will determine your persona's abilities."

… What? "You've lost me again. So... my persona gets stronger when I make _friends_?"

Marmar speaks up again. "Your social links are necessary for more than strengthening your persona. At times, they will light the way to the truth you are searching for."

Okay then. So I make friends with psychos and maybe one will be the killer. Then because I was friends with him my persona will be stronger and I can beat him down.

… Makes sense to me?

"Where will your awakened power of the Wild Card take you? I look forward to travelling the road of your destiny together." Igor begins to chuckle again. Guess he does that a lot. "'Til we meet again."

My view of the velvet room fades.

Persona. Shadow. Fool.

Let's see if we can get some answers.

-(-)-

Carl Jung, huh? Bet this guy knew a man with a long nose.

I spend my time before school in my room, reading up on everything I can find out about persona. Carl Jung described the concept the same way Igor did; as a facade to deal with life's hardships. Something else he spoke of was what he called the 'Fool's Journey' which was basically an outline of a person's life using the major arcana of a tarot deck as the basis for each stage.

The fool is major arcana number zero.

And suddenly this is all starting to make more sense. About time something did. I printed off a cheat sheet of all of the major arcana so I could start learning which corresponds to what number. I get the feeling this is going to be important pretty soon.

-(-)-

I was on my way to school when "Yo, Seta!" Yosuke showed up on his bike.

"Dude! Yosuke! I know things! The world makes sense again... sort of!" He gives me a puzzled look. "Oh, uhh... I'll explain later. It'll take a while."

"... Okay? A-anyway, you saw what was on last night, right?" I look through my list for his number. One is... magician? Okay then.

"Yeah. Woman in a kimono." I look up from the list. "It wasn't just me that thought it was blurrier than last time, right?" I ask.

"No. You're right. Both times I saw... It was clear but flickery. I couldn't tell who it was this time but if someone appears on TV we can't ignore it. We should check it out after school. Maybe Teddie can tell us. I mean he'll know if someone's in there again, right?"

"Yeah, that's true. Did you check the weather? Any fog coming?"

"None. It's safe for a while." He pauses, looking sullen. "If it turns out someone was thrown in again, there really might be someone behind all this. Even if it is something about that place that's killing people... If someone's using that place as a weapon, that's unforgivable!" His face shows a flash of anger. "We need to find the culprit. No matter what it takes!"

He's... really angry. "Yosuke, don't make this personal. We're doing this because no one else can, remember?"

"... Fine." He shakes off the irritation that was showing clear in his expression. "You know I tried sticking my head in the TV the way you did and it actually worked! I think I can do that now because I have the same power. Persona, was it? Could be we got this gift from someone specifically so we could solve this case."

"Thou art the one who opens the door..." I mumble. Yosuke looks at me curiously. "Nothing. We'll talk about it at lunch. There's a lot to go over."

He shrugs. "Sure. Okay... You know, I feel like as long as you're with me I can find the culprit and crack this case. Let's do our best!" He grins and offers his hand.

I take it. And as soon as I do time seems to stop.

 **SMASH!**

The hell?

A card appears in front of me. On it is a pair of hands seeming to conjure fire.

 _Thou art I and I am thou. Thou hast established a new bond._

 _It brings thee closer to the truth._

 _Thou shalt be blessed when creating personae of the Magician Arcana._

… I knew that list would come in handy.

The card vanishes and everything returns to normal. Yosuke is looking at me oddly again.

I hope that thing with the spooky voice doesn't happen every time I make a friend. That would get annoying fast. Also annoying is that I still don't know how exactly this makes me stronger.

… And how long have I been holding Yosuke's hand? I let go as soon as I realise and turn to carry on walking. "C'mon, we should get to school."

-(-)-

Yosuke and I were waiting in our classroom when Chie rushed in, looking panicked. She immediately ran over to us. "Uh... Chie?" Yosuke is the first to speak. "Um... About yesterday... We're sorry we worried you." he says with as much guilt in his voice as possible. He's just trying to avoid another nut-shot.

Not that I blame him.

"Never mind about that. Is Yukiko still not here?" Chie sounds as nervous as she looks.

"Yukiko-san? Uhh, no? At least I haven't seen her today."

"Oh, man... What should I do?... Hey, is that stuff you were talking about for real?"

I look at Yosuke questioningly. "I called her to explain what happened." he answers my unasked question.

Oh, that makes more sense then. "Oh. Well in that case, if he told you about persona, shadows and someone killing people using the TV world then yeah. It's for real."

"Yeah, we were just talking about that." Yosuke says. "Someone was on last night so we're thinking of checking it out later."

"The person on TV yesterday... I think it was Yukiko." Chie admits, trying to look calm.

Hooray for jumping to conclusions. "Okay. Aside from the fact the woman on TV was wearing a kimono and remembering that most women in town probably own one, what makes you think it was Yukiko?"

"Well the kimono looked just like the one she wears at the inn! And she wore it in that interview a few days ago too!"

"A few days ago?" I ask, confused.

"Yeah, it was on TV last night! Didn't you see it?!"

Someone needs to get fired. "No, I mean that interview was filmed days ago. And shown last night. That means that train wreck of an interview wasn't just spur-of-the-moment? Someone handed that video to an editor who presumably knows what he's doing and he said to show it to the public? Who the hell is running that sho-"

"That's not the issue here!" Chie interrupts.

"Darn well should be..." I grumble. Well, at least if she gets annoyed at me then she's less focused on worrying about Yukiko. Not like I'm just being mean.

And someone really _should_ get fired at that TV station.

"Urgh! Look! I tried e-mailing her last night and she hasn't responded! I called her in the evening and she said she'd be at school today! I..." she trails off.

"Calm down, we get the picture. You still haven't heard from her?" Yosuke asks, doing a fine job as the supportive guy.

"No..."

"Give her another call. We shouldn't jump to conclusions just because she didn't respond to an e-mail." I suggest.

"Y-you're right." Chie pulls out her phone and calls Yukiko's mobile phone. I take the opportunity to look at the list again. Chie is seven so... Chariot. I wish the explanations for tarot meanings were less vague. I know the words but it's still gibberish to me.

"No good. It went to voicemail. She's not answering..." Chie whines.

"Whoa, seriously?! Could she really be inside that place?" What the hell happened to being supportive, Yosuke?!

"Shut up! Something must've come up! Like an errand or something! Or... Or maybe she's working at the inn! I mean she couldn't answer her phone if that's it!"

"But w-OW!" I stomp on Yosuke's foot to shut him up.

"I-I'll give the inn a call... I've got the number here somewhere..." She pulls her phone out and I assume is calling the inn, mumbling "pick up" every now and again as she waits.

…

…

… "Oh, is that Yukiko?!" She places her hand over the phone "Thank god, she's there!" and releases it again. "Uh-huh... uh-huh... I see. Nah, it's nothing. I'll e-mail you again later." Chie closes her phone and looks back at us. "She was over at the inn." she confirms with a relieved smile on her face. "They had a big group reservation so she had to help out. Now that I think about it this happened before, at least once a year. She'll be at the inn tomorrow too." Without warning, relieved face turns to peeved face. "For crying out loud, Yosuke! You got me worried over nothing! She was totally fine! And you were all 'Is Yukiko-san inside that place?' Hmph!"

Heheh. I get her mad, You get her madder. You're a good friend, Yosuke. "S-sorry." he apologises. "But there is a reason we thought that."

"Oh, yeah? What?"

"Yeah, what?" I echo. I don't know what he's talking about either.

"Well we thought people showed up on the midnight channel because they're already in that world. It makes sense right? People are on TV because they're inside the TV."

"It bodes well that we're using the logic of toddlers, but go on."

"Yukiko-san is still here in our world! We might want to see what this is about."

"... We'll check with Teddie after school to see if anyone else is in there. If not, we can assume it's Yukiko and decide on what to do about it."

-(-)-

Lunchtime. Yosuke and I are on the roof as I try to explain what happened last night.

"So an old man visits you in your dreams." Yosuke is trying his best to keep a straight face.

He is not succeeding.

"Hear me out. So while I was on the train to Inaba I had this vision of an old man in what he called the Velvet Room. He said I'd encounter a misfortune at my destination and a mystery would be imposed upon me. Last night, I saw him again and he told me all sorts of stuff. Highlights include what those voices I was hearing were – my persona – and what persona really is. He even explained the numbers I've been seeing when I look at people." Yosuke gives me a funny look. "... I... Hadn't told you about that yet, huh? Hm. Well for example, you're One, Chie is Seven, my cousin is Eight, my uncle is Five, Teddie is Seventeen..."

"What're you?" he asks, skeptical.

"... Zero."

"... Hmhmhmhm. Hahahaha! You're a zero! Even in your own head! You need to work on your self-esteem, dude!"

I ignore his laughter. "Yeah, that's what I thought at first too. But according to that Igor guy, the fact that I'm Zero means my power is somehow different from yours."

"Different how? You gonna use it to obliterate Britannia?"

"Funny. I don't know. He didn't really say. Just that my power is 'empty but with limitless possibilities'."

"What's that mean?"

"I don't know yet. But the whole thing might explain how I got a persona without facing my shadow like you did. It was something the voices said. 'Thou art the one who opens the door.' Someone gave me the ability to pass into the TV world along with a persona. Just like you said, someone gave us this power so we could solve this case!"

"Dude, I was just throwing ideas out there."

"Well I think that one was right."

"So is there anything else the voices in your head told you?"

"Making friends gives me superpowers."

He pinches the bridge of his nose in frustration. "Let's... Let's just get back to class. You're giving me a headache. Remember we're meeting up at Junes later."

"Yeah okay."

-(-)-

Yosuke, Chie and I met up in the electronics department of Junes. I was in the middle of going over last night's events with Chie when...

"...So then I lit Yosuke's frog rider shadow and-"

"Okay, okay. That's enough of that." Yosuke interrupts my tale of victory and badassery. Like a douche.

"If I hadn't seen the place first hand... I'd never have believed a story like that. Not that I believe the barfighter part."

"Hey, it's not like I'm saying I beat it alone! I'm willing to share the credit for being awesome!"

"ANYway. We need to know what's going on inside." Yosuke changes the subject.

"... Alright. Cover me." I tell him.

"Huh?"

"Block those customers' view of this TV so I can talk to Teddie." I explain, inclining my head to indicate the nearby group of shoppers.

"Oh, right. Chie, come make a wall with me." Yosuke whispers, understanding my meaning.

As soon as Chie and Yosuke are in place I stick a hand in the TV and make a beckoning motion, trying to get Teddie's attention.

"OW SON OF A...!" Little bastard bit me! I put on my pair of glasses and put my head through the TV, coming face to face with a smiling Teddie.

"Is this a game?" he asks, oblivious.

"You bit me!"

"... You're mad. Not a game?"

"No, not a game! Look, is there anyone else in this world right now?" I ask resisting the urge to hit him.

"Who's 'anyone'? I'm a lonely little bear like always. This land... feels so... bear-ren! Heehee!"

I pull my head out of the TV and look at Yosuke. "I'm gonna kill him. He makes one more damned _bear pun_ and I'm gonna kill him!"

"Focus! We need to know if anyone's in there or not."

"I already asked. He says it's empty like always." I put my head back in. "Thanks." I tell Teddie. "Don't bite me again."

As I pull my head back out Yosuke and Chie are in the middle of a conversation. "So you'll walk with her to school on Monday?"

"Yeah. She'll be busy at the inn all weekend so she should be safe for now."

"Good. We should all watch the midnight channel again tonight to make sure." He turns to me. "Don't forget. Oh, and we should exchange cell numbers. I'll call when it's on tonight."

"Yeah, yeah." I open my phone to save his number. "So where do they sell plasters here? That red and blue bastard drew blood."

-(-)-

Dinner with Nanako was uneventful. Uncle never showed up as could be expected. I spent the hours between dinner and midnight reading up on tarot and the fool's journey. By the time the midnight channel appeared I had a simple understanding of both.

But no understanding of what the hell I'm seeing now.

/_Good _eeeevening_! Tonight, Princess Yukiko has a _big_ surprise!_\

/_I'm gonna go score myself a hot stud!_\

None at all.

-(-)-

A/N: Not gonna lie, this one was a bit of a slog to fix up. Mostly because there's not much to actually fix beyond minor touch-ups. Obviously the Velvet Room bit had to be updated for Marie but that's more or less it.

Fandom Flux. Etcetera.

Thanks for reading.


	8. Prep Work

/_Welcome to Not a Dream, Not a Hoax: Princess Yukiko's Hunt for her Prince Charming!And I came prepared!_\

Uhhh...

/_I've got my lacy unmentionables stacked from top to bottom!_\

Err...

/_I'm gonna catch myself a whole harem and the best of the lot is gonna be all mine! Well... Here I go!_\

… The image disappears.

… My phone rings. You answer phones when they ring. I answer it and put it to my ear.

"H-hey, did you see that?!" Yosuke.

"Uhhh..." I nod unconsciously. Was she grabbing her crotch...?

"That was Yukiko-san for sure! It looked like her and, I mean, she even said her name!"

"Lacy..."

"But didn't the stuff she was saying sound weird? And she looked like she was on some low-budget TV-show. Was it like this before too?"

"Unmentionables..."

"Would you snap out of it and focus! This is serious dammit!"

I slap myself in the face three times, hard. "Ahh! Sorry. I'm good now."

"What's going on?"

"... Did she really just grab her crotch...?"

"YES, now FOCUS!"

"Sorry, sorry. Uhh... The picture was clear this time, right?" Yes... very clear.

"Yeah..." Yosuke agrees.

"The last time it was clear, the person displayed was in that world. That means..."

"... Yukiko is there now." he finishes, catching on to my reasoning.

"Call Chie. She watched this too. She probably knows what it means. Reassure her. We will _not_ let this end the same way as last time. And Yosuke?"

"Yeah?"

"Get yourself a weapon. Tomorrow, we save Yukiko."

… Thinking about it, if I'm gonna be a superhero I should write some better one liners.

-(-)-

First thing, I e-mailed Yosuke to tell him to meet me at the Junes food court at 11. It's a Sunday so nothing could get in the way of doing what we need to do today.

… Except a little girl sitting alone in an empty house doing nothing but watch TV all day.

I approach Nanako as she's doing just that. "Oh, good morning." She greets me.

"Where's your dad?" I ask.

"He left already. He said he's gonna be late."

"Of course he did." I mumble. Though that's not fair. I'm leaving too. Probably for the exact same reason.

"Are you going somewhere?"

"W-well..." I stutter hesitantly.

"It's okay. I'll be fine by myself." she assures me, like this is the norm.

It is. That's the worst part.

Steeling my resolve, I say "See you later, Nanako." and leave. I have to do this. No one else can help Yukiko.

… I still hate myself for it.

-(-)-

11:05 and I'm sat at a table in the food court, enjoying a burger I bought as my late breakfast. It absolutely _is_ a healthy breakfast choice, thank you very much.

I glance around and see Yosuke approaching from my right, hiding something behind his back.

"Sorry for the hold-up." he apologises, "but I found some stuff in the closet at home that we can use." A grin spreads across his face. "Guess what's sharper than a golf club!"

With his probably rhetorical question he whips his hands from behind his back to reveal two swords: an aikuchi and a katana.

In a crowded food court.

With a murderer on the loose.

… This will end well. I can feel it.

"Please put those down on the table, slowly and carefully." I request.

"Sure! Take a closer look! Pretty sweet, huh? I mean we've got our personas but a golf club's not that reliable of a weapon. So which one strikes your fancy?"

I look closer at the katana and run a finger along the- _really_? "These are fake. _Very_ fake. I've seen sharper butter knives." I say, in a slightly loud voice so as to reassure the other people in the area, if only a little.

"Well, yeah. It's not like I have access to real swords. Still better than a golf club though, right?"

"Not really? The design of a sword is for the specific purpose of slashing things. If the blade is dull then it's pretty much a big iron stick. A golf club, while not an _ideal_ weapon, is still a club, used for hitting things. At best they'd be about the same level of usefulness as far as weapons go."

Judging by his pouting expression I guess I hurt his feelings. "Fine! Maybe I'll use both, huh? How about that?" He picks up the fake swords and starts swinging them around wildly, trying his best to mimic fighting stances. "Like this?"

Then I notice the guy in the police uniform by the stairs. "Uhh, Yosuke?"

"Or maybe like this!" He continues swinging like a madman. 'Well uncle, my friend is a complete moron. Yes, he really brought swords to a crowded food court. Crazy, right?'

" **Yosuke!** " I hiss, and point to the cop talking into his radio.

."Huh?... OH crap! Uhh..." He hides the weapons behind his back. "No! No no no no no this isn't what it looks like. We didn't steal it!... Uhh, I guess that's... not what matters. A-anyway, we're not doing anything bad! We're... just two ordinary kids who like weapons and-"

"Yosuke, shut up already! You're just making things worse." I turn to the officer and put on the most respectful tone I could manage. "Officer, we apologise for the disturbance." _Breathe._ "The weapons are not real. The blades are fake."

"Put the weapons down now! We'll listen to your story at the station. Hands where I can see them too! Now!" he demands.

Then Yosuke does something stupid. I'm sure he'll look back fondly on this moment. He puts his hands out straight in front of him, swords still in hand, no more than a foot away from the officer. "B-but this isn't-" He starts waving the swords back and forth. I'm assuming it was supposed to be a gesture meaning "no".

"A-are you resisting an officer of the law?! You're under arrest!"

Two more officers approach from behind us.

-(-)-

"You didn't seem the type to pull a stupid stunt like this."

"Noooo kidding." I say, glaring at a very sullen Yosuke.

Dojima was lecturing me and Yosuke at the police station after getting us out of trouble.

"You know what's been going on around town. We got men stationed everywhere. You're lucky I was around or this would've ended up on your permanent record."

"We're sorry." Yosuke apologises. Pfft. You be sorry, dude. I ain't done nothin'.

Two officers are chatting as they walk past us in the hallway. Their conversation is more interesting than Dojima's lecture. "So the one that disappeared was that Amagi girl?"

"Seems like it. But she's just a high-schooler, you know? Could be she just decided to run away from home."

… Gotta ask. Can't stop myself. "Uncle, please tell me those two aren't investigating the murders. Two women are murdered, a third goes missing – similar to the second murder victim, I might add – and it's _no big deal_? No cause for _alarm_?"

He does not appreciate the comment. For good reason, in hindsight. I crossed a line as soon as I started. "I don't see how the way we do our job is _any_ of your damn _business_! Get the hell out of here before I have you two thrown in a cell!" He stormed off, leaving us in the hallway.

"Dude, what the hell?" Yosuke asks, throwing his hands up. "I waved a sword at a cop this morning and what you just said is _still_ the stupidest thing I've seen today."

"... I'd say it's more or less a tie but I get your point. I guess I heard how those cops didn't care that Yukiko-san was missing... I got angry... I'll apologise later."

"Yeah. That's a good idea. That repression thing not as effective as you said it was?" Yosuke jokes.

"Guess not." I need to work on that. I think I've a right to be angry but not at Dojima.

We head for the exit when we come across a familiar face, at least to me. "Whoa, pardon me." he says as he almost bumps into me. One. Magician. Just like Yosuke.

It's gotten to the point where I only see the number when I want to. Much more convenient.

"Hey, aren't you the kid staying at Dojima-san's place?" I guess he recognises me too.

"Yeah, that's me. Seta Souji. Nice to meet you."

"Tohru Adachi. I'm Dojima-san's gof- I, uhh, mean his partner."

"Hey, can we ask you something?" Yosuke interjects. "It's about Yukiko-san. Err, I mean Yukiko Amagi of the Amagi Inn."

Adachi hesitates. "Uhh, should I really say...? Well... If you're friends with the Amagi girl... Keep this between us, okay? We got a call from her parents yesterday saying they couldn't find her anywhere. Since it was the weekend, the workers at the inn were extremely busy and no one saw Amagi around that time. Oh, but that doesn't necessarily mean this is a case just yet."

"See, that's what I don't get. Two women die, one after going missing for only a day, then a third goes missing and no one bats an eye?" I ask.

"Don't misunderstand. We're definitely investigating this. This case has everyone on edge so we can't ignore someone going missing. By the way, did she say anything about maybe going through some hard times?"

I look at Yosuke. He shrugs. "Uhh, hard times?" he asks.

"Well that announcer, Mayumi Yamano, was staying at the Amagi Inn before the first murder. Seems Yamano-san had some harsh words for the manager about the staff's attitude towards guests. The stress caused the manager to collapse."

I see where this is going. "You can't be serious."

"Well Amagi is the manager's daughter. She must've felt pretty strongly about the incident, y'know? There's theories floating around that she might be laying low for some reason or another..." Adachi's eyes go wide. "Crap, I think I went to far. You didn't hear that, okay?"

Uncle's voice echoes down the hallway. "Adachi, what the hell are you chatting with civvies for?! And where's my coffee?!"

"S-sorry! I got it right here!" Adachi shouts back. "Forget I said anything. Please!" he whispers to us before walking off.

"So the police _are_ looking for Yukiko, but because they think she might be the killer." I tell Yosuke while we get back to leaving the police station. "Great. So as soon as we get her back to safety, she'll be interrogated."

"That doesn't matter right now. Right now we need to save her. That's all." is his reply.

"Yeah, you're right."

"There you are!" Chie's standing next to the front desk as we approach. I tap Yosuke on the shoulder and shake my head slightly. The message was 'don't tell her Yukiko is a suspect'. He got it, I think.

Last thing Chie needs right now is something else to worry about.

"Sheesh, what're you guys doing?! I've been looking everywhere."

"Well clearly you weren't looking for the guy waving swords around in a crowded food court!" Yosuke glares at me. I sigh. "... Or the guy mouthing off to a cop." Happy now, ya big idiot? "So I take it Yosuke explained what's going on."

"Yeah. So why the hell are you here?"

"Swords. Food court. Cops. Were you not listening? Oh, that reminds me. They confiscated your 'weapons' so you need something else, dude."

Chie's ears perk up. "Weapons? I know just the place. Follow me."

I look at Yosuke, shrug, and fall into step behind Chie.

-(-)-

"Wh-what kind of shop _is_ this?" Yosuke asks the moment we step into the dank interior of the building. Weapons and armour of various types line the walls and shelves.

"It's a metalworks, I guess? They sell all sorts of metal crap like katanas and stuff."

"Ch-chie chan! You should be more respectful! This is a place of business!" I say with a forced smile as I indicate the proprietor with the wicked-looking scar spanning the left side of his face, forehead to jaw.

I do _not_ want to piss this guy off. _Ever_.

"Doesn't that seem weird to you?!" Dammit Yosuke! _Respectful!_ I don't wanna die here. "Why would you know about a place like this anyway?... Oh, I get it. You watched one too many kung-fu movies and-"

"It's not that at all!" She stamps her foot. "I overheard some guys in our class talking about it. They said this place sells weapons and armour. Here." she says, looking at a nearby suit of chainmail. "This one looks good... But it might be too heavy for me..."

Yosuke's eyebrows raise. For her? What does she mean for- vocalise, moron. "What do you mean, 'for you'?"

"I'm going too." she states, matter-of-factly, like it's no big deal.

"WHAT?!" Yosuke exclaims. "It's too dangerous! You don't know what it's like in there. I know how you feel but-"

"You don't! You don't know shit about how I feel! Yukiko might die from this, for crying out loud! I'm going and that's that!"

I look at Yosuke. He has nothing. Neither do I. I can't believe I lost an argument about putting someone in mortal danger. I sigh. "... You stay behind us. You stay out of the fighting. If something attacks you you do your best to defend yourself until I or Yosuke can get to you."

"Pfft. I'll be fine. My reflexes are second to none!"

"And without a persona that will mean next to _nothing_. So I say again: Stay. Behind. Us."

"Alright, alright! I get it!" She rolls her eyes. She doesn't get it. At all.

… Why is that scar-face guy grinning at me all of a sudden?

"Make sure you have something to protect yourself." Yosuke suggests.

"Okay. Umm..." Chie starts to browse.

Yosuke steps closer to me so we can talk more privately. "This could be bad."

"I know. But I don't think anything we could say could change her mind... If she does what I said she might be okay. Could you keep an eye on her for me?"

"You got it, partner." He nods. "But what should we get? I mean I've never trained with any weapons before."

"Me either. We might be better off getting some decent armour and sticking with weapons with which we aren't likely to kill ourselves. I'll stick with the golf club for now. How about you?"

He looks around the shop for a second before his eyes land on two heavy-duty wrenches on a counter-top. "These for sale?"

"1500 yen for both." the shop owner replies, voice like he spent his life gargling nails.

"Okay. That and three chainmail... shirt thingies, then."

"Three?" Chie asks.

"You, me and Yosuke. How much?"

"10500 yen. Know what, make it an even 10000." There's that grin again. What's with this guy?

… We're on his good side. Stop questioning it.

"Thanks. I... We appreciate it." I say as I paid for our stuff.

"So how're we getting into Junes wearing all of this stuff? We'll kind of stand out."

I think about Yosuke's question for about 0.3 seconds. "It's old fashioned armour. We'll just look like cosplayers." I can't help but notice Chie blushing a little. Nor can I help the grin spreading across my face. "Who?" I ask her.

"N-none of your business!" she snaps back. Why do people keep saying that to me today?

"If it makes you feel any better you can wear your school uniform over it." I say as we move to leave the shop.

"Hey, kid." The shopkeeper calls me back as we're about to leave.

"Go on ahead, guys. I'll catch up." I tell the others before returning to the counter.

His grin is back, it's a little smug this time. "I got a policy that if customers bring me raw materials, I'll make somethin' special for 'em. Now, I don't know what you're into, but if you get me some stuff I've never seen before I'll pay you for it. I might even craft some amazin' things for ya."

"Anything specific?"

His grin shrinks to a knowing smile. "I think you'll know it when you see it."

"... I'll keep it in mind."

"See ya later, kid. Tell Philemon I said 'hi'."

Uhh, what? "O...kay? S-see ya." I back out of the store slowly, not taking my eyes off the metalworks owner.

Stuff he's never seen before, huh? I e-mail Yosuke to tell him I'd take another 30 minutes. I have some supplies to gather... which now have to wait, thanks to glowy blue doors appearing in the street.

My, my. I wonder if I was somehow given the means to open this door earlier?

The key Igor gave me the night before last starts glowing in my pocket. I'm thinking the universe is just screwing with me now. I didn't really need the oh-so-subtle hint.

-So it finally begins. Now if you'll give me a moment of your time-

"You really didn't need to invade my head. I wasn't exactly going to ignore the freaky door."

I step closer to the door and touch it. Or rather I don't. My hand just passes straight through it. More freaky portals to other worlds. Just what I need.

I step through.

-(-)-

"We have been expecting you. The catastrophe that is heading your way has already taken human lives in its approach towards you." Igor. Velvet Room. I'm shocked that the magical blue door opened with a magical blue key led into a magical blue room.

… Screw this. My patience with this cryptic crap has run dry.

"Yes. It has. And if you people had been more straightforward then I might have saved one of them. Instead you talk in riddles and vague innuendos. Last time you said you would offer your assistance. So why not two days _earlier_?! Why was it so damned necessary for there to be two deaths instead of one?!"

Igor's familiar grin vanishes about halfway through my ranting. "We are incapable of revealing the significance of your power until it has awakened within you. Did you not notice we visited you the very night your persona awakened fully? Do not attempt to shift blame onto us for something that is not within our – or even your – control. That is the very basis of our agreement, is it not?"

...Dammit. I did it again didn't I? "I'm sorry. I said something I shouldn't have said. I've been doing that a lot today."

"Indeed. But if you still have concerns over the suffering of others, you have nothing to fear. You now have the power to fight against it. The time for you to use your persona has come."

Margo speaks up, still continuing to glare at me thanks to my outburst. "Your persona ability is that of the Wild Card. If you strengthen your bonds, they will help you overcome any ordeal. Our role is to facilitate that."

"My contribution" Igor continues without pause, "is to give birth to new personae." I _really_ hope he doesn't mean that literally. "By mixing together multiple persona cards, I can transmute them into a new form. This is known as persona fusion. You have the power to hold multiple personae and use them accordingly. When you defeat an enemy, the seeds of possibility you attain will appear before you as cards. At times they may be hard to grasp but you must master your fear and reach out to them. When you attain new cards, please do not hesitate to bring them here. If you have been developing your social links, personae you fuse here will gain even more power."

"So personae I get from fighting shadows will be comparatively weaker than those I fuse here." I guess.

"Correct." Igor nods to Marge.

Marmoset holds up a large book with bizarre patterns on it. "The tome you see in my hand is the Persona Compendium. Registering the personae you hold will allow you to recall them at any time for a fee."

"So there _is_ a limit to how many personae I can hold at a time then? There'd be no point in the compendium otherwise."

"For you, yes. Please do not hesitate to call on me when you wish to use the compendium."

What does she mean by 'for me'?

"And as for Marie," Marcia continues... Oh, wait I just realised there's two people with "Mar" names. I guess I should just use her real name or I'm gonna end up confusing myself. "She will be dealing with Skill Cards, which grant your Persona the ability to gain new powers. Also, I am sure she will help you form a bond between yourself and the outside world."

I narrow my eyes at her. "This cryptic crap is never going to stop, is it?"

Igor laughs lightly. "No."

Figures.

"When next we meet, you will come here of your own free will." Igor chuckled. "I look forward to it! Until then, farewell."

"Bye then." And the room faded. Now to get back to... supplies. That was it.

-(-)-

30 minutes and 5000 yen later and I have two satchels. When I catch up to the others in the food court I hand one to Chie and keep the other one.

"Yosuke, next time I'm about to be rude to someone for no good reason, please stop me. Punch me or something."

Yosuke's eyebrows raise. "Dude, again? Not the shop guy, right? He'd've killed you."

"Nah. Igor." I answer, waving my hand dismissively.

"Damn. You're even an ass to your imaginary friends?"

"Looks that way."

"Sure, whatever. So what're these for?" Yosuke asks, indicating the bags.

"Chie's is filled with medical supplies. This one's empty. The metalworks guy said he'd pay me to get him some weird materials. Where weirder than in a place that science says

shouldn't exist?"

"You're thinking of money right now?!" Chie complains.

"I spent 15000 yen today. You can complain when it's your money."

Yosuke glances around nervously. "Dude, we _really_ stand out. It's a Sunday and we're wearing our school uniforms."

"So? I look badass in this. School uniform or not, these clothes are stylish. Also, I still don't buy what Chie is wearing as standard uniform."

"It's just a jacket over my regular unifo-CAN WE GET BACK TO WHAT'S IMPORTANT, PLEASE?!"

"Fine, fine. The sale'll end soon so that'll get rid of some of the people wandering around." Yosuke explains. "We should get going."

As soon as the crowds start to thin out, we head straight for the electronics department and through the TV we'd been using.

-(-)-

"Whoa, it really _is_ that bear from last time."

We found Teddie holding his head and swaying side-to-side on a corner of the entrance platform.

"What're you doing?" Yosuke asks him.

"Can't you tell?" he asks. "I'm thinking about stuff. I've been deli-bear-ating over it for a long time now." _Must not kill Teddie. Only one who can help. Can kill him later._ "Hey, that wasn't a bad joke! Heehee!" _MUST NOT KILL TEDDIE._

I force down the anger enough to hear Yosuke ask "So did you figure anything out?"

"I try and try but nothing comes out of my head." Not surprising really. Nothing in there in the first place.

"Will you guys _shut up_?! Now's not the time for stupid jokes!" Agreed. "Listen, someone came here yesterday, right?"

"Whoa! There's a girl with a better nose than me? What's your name, Miss?" Heheheh. Teddie's got a crush.

"M-miss?" she stammers, taken aback by the flirty bear. "Uh... I'm Chie. But never mind that. Tell me about that 'someone'."

"It happened a little after I talked with Sensei. After that it felt like someone was here."

"Is it Yukiko-san?" Yosuke presses, forgetting that Teddie can't tell who each person is.

"I don't know. I haven't looked. The presence is over that way." He turns to face where he felt the presence. "That's probably where they are."

"Over there, huh?" Chie doesn't waste any time being sensible. She runs as soon as she knows where she's going.

I sigh. "Can't say I'm surprised. I'm a little pissed she took our supplies though. Serves me right for giving them to her, I guess."

"Why the hell aren't you worried?!" Yosuke exclaims.

"They ignored you." I answer simply.

"Huh?"

"When the shadows first attacked, you were vulnerable and closer but they went straight for me. The one with a persona, even if it hadn't properly awakened yet."

"So you're saying the shadows won't attack her?" Yosuke reasons, looking a bit more relaxed.

"The small ones? No. They'll probably leave her alone. However, there's a bigger concern. _Her_ shadow. I have a suspicion it won't manifest right away. Yamano's and Saki's didn't until the fog lifted."

"But mine did! Why won't hers be like mine?" Yosuke asks.

"Why did you deny your shadow?"

"Huh?... Well... I was ashamed." he admits, shuffling awkwardly. "I didn't wanna admit it was part of me."

I point at him in acknowledgement. "Shame. That's why it won't manifest. It wants her to feel ashamed so she'll deny it like you did. And if other people are there to witness your shame..."

"It's a thousand times worse." Yosuke finishes.

"Why settle for a possible victory when you can guarantee it? It won't attempt anything until we get there to see it. Then it'll strike. So the question is what do we do when that happens?"

"Well we should stop her from denying it." he says as if it's the most obvious thing in the world. Which for reasonable people it probably is. "We could get her out and get to saving Yukiko like we were going to."

I smirk. "Or... we could let her face it."

-(-)-

A/N: This one was annoying but straightforward. Switching to present tense. Making some of the dialogue a bit more natural (less of Seta slipping into overly formal speech for no reason), obviously adding Marie. That's about it.

Thanks for reading.


	9. Chie Satonaka

"You... You want to... what?" Yosuke can't seem to wrap his mind around what I'd just suggested. Horror and disgust is the only way I can describe his expression.

"We let her face her shadow. Yukiko too, in fact."

"... W-why... Why... Why the _hell_ would you even _suggest_ something like that?! Do you have any _idea_ what it's like? Having your darkest thoughts announced for anyone who'll listen and nothing you can do about it?! It's humiliating! Traumatising!"

I nod. "Okay. And if Chie knew that and that it would be the only real way she'd be able to help in getting Yukiko back, do you think she'd go through with it?"

"That's not the-..." He sighs through a grimace. "She'd... probably go through worse. But that aside, this is a really dangerous idea. I mean what if her shadow k-kills her? You gonna be the one to tell her parents?"

"It won't kill her." I already promised myself that no one else dies here... but that was before I put someone in mortal danger... I'll change it a bit. No one dies here but _me_. "If it comes right down to it I'll do whatever I have to to make sure she survives."

"... I... I don't know whether to respect that or punch you for saying it so easily."

I shrug. "Could do both." … Wait. "Don't do bo-Oof!"

"Yeah. Both works." He doesn't need to smile about it so much. And couldn't he have gone for the arm or something instead of right in the gut?

I sit on the floor to get my breath back after the asshat winded me. "Okay. Why don't we go over what we can and can't do? Persona-wise, I mean."

"Oh. Okay. Well I have three skills but I don't know what they do. Garu, Bash and Dia. I mean Bash is pretty self-explanatory but the other two are in some weird language."

"Ooh, ooh! Teddie knows!" Eh? Oh. Forgot he was here. "Garu is a wind skill. Like the one his shadow used on you, Sensei!"

"Ugh. Don't remind me." That really hurt.

"And Dia is-"

"Healing."

Teddie and I look at Yosuke, confused. "I thought you didn't know what they were?"

"I was right?... I just kind of... knew. I thought about the skill for a second and it just came to me."

Huh. I try it on the one skill I don't understand yet. Rakunda. Lowers defensive capability. "... Well I'll be damned. Here I was playing it by ear." I stand up and slap Yosuke on the arm. "Thanks, dude."

"Heh. No problem, partner! So your skills are...?"

We talked as we made our way to where Chie got to. I explained all of my skills as well as what powers them and how weaknesses supposedly work, with a little of Teddie's help. This took several minutes. "Now the big problem is running out of energy. Run out of spiritual and you're left with only physical attacks. And the more of your own physical energy you use for persona attacks, the weaker and more tired you get. I guess your healing will come in handy there."

"Yeah, I guess so. Man, this is like some terrible video game."

Aren't girls usually the healers in those games? "Heheh. Heheheheh."

"What?"

"Hm? Nothing. Oh, look! We're here."

Here, in this case, is a castle of western design and intimidating appearance, though that may be more down to a combination of the fog and the ominous red and black pattern behind it that matches the main entrance.

"So..." I say, breaking the awkward silence, "anyone know why it's a castle?"

"Nuh-uh. This is reality for whoever's here. Ooh! Does this Yukiko person live in a castle?!"

"No... When she was on the midnight channel she did call herself Princess Yukiko, though..." Yosuke reasons. "Speaking of, Teddie, are you sure there's no one behind a camera for that bizarre midnight program?"

"Program? I dunno. Maybe people from your side can see inside this world? It might be that. And besides, I told you before! It's only me and shadows here! There's no 'camera' stuff going on. It's been like this from the beginning."

"'From the beginning'?" Yosuke echoes. "That's what we don't understand!"

"Well can you guys explain everything about your world?"

I rejoin the conversation. "Heh. If you'd asked me that last week I'd've said we were at least getting close. Now, though... "

"Anyway, we're getting off track. When she was on the midnight channel, did Yukiko-san seem weird to you?" Yosuke asks me.

"Aside from the whole Princess thing? I don't know her that well but I'd say talking about her underwear and 'scoring a hot stud' seemed a little odd."

"...'Score'? 'Stud'?" Teddie looks a little confused.

Yosuke ignores him. "Yeah, I couldn't believe it either. Yukiko-san would never say anything like that... wait. Is this... Maybe this is kinda like what happened to me last time!"

"It wouldn't surprise me. But we've wasted enough time talking about this already, right? So Chie is inside, Ted?"

"Pretty sure. So... What's this 'scoring with a hot stud' thing?"

"Not the time, bear. Anything else you can tell us before we head inside?"

"There's shadows inside... Lots of 'em. Oh, and I gathered these for you."

He holds out some small, round objects, only one of which was larger than a grape. "What're these?" I ask.

"The little ones are soul drops. They'll recover some of your spirit energy. The big one is a revival bead. You can use it to wake someone who's unconscious."

"That's... actually really helpful. Thanks, Ted. Alright. We should get going. You ready Yosuke?"

The wrenches were in his hands before I could figure out where he was keeping them. "Ready."

"Well, then." I pull the golf club from my pant leg where I was keeping it. "Let's do this." I take a step forward but notice Yosuke is just looking at me. "What?"

"Dude, that's it?" he asks incredulously. "That's your one-liner?"

"... Let's bring light to the shadows?"

"Too fancy."

"... Let's fuck shit up?"

"Too vulgar."

"Alright, you know what? I got this. I got the perfect one-liner. You ready for this?"

"Go ahead."

I clear my throat noisily, take a deep breath and run headlong into the castle screaming "FUCK YOU, YOSUKEEEEE!"

-(-)-

As soon as we step through the portal, Teddie speaks up. "Mmmmm the shadows are getting aggravated, Sensei! They'll probably attack if they spot you! You should sneak up behind 'em for a surprise attack!"

"Alright then. Teddie, make sure you keep a safe distance behind us. Yosuke, make sure you keep up."

"Got it." he salutes with a wrench. "Also, fuck you too."

I dash forward, hoping to find an enemy before one finds us. We get lucky. A shadow still in it's slime-like state is dead ahead of us, shrouded in the darkness and fog until we get uncomfortably close to it. I continue to run forward and on nearing the shadow swing my golf club as if teeing off on a Par 5.

Yes, I know golf. Shut up, I grew up fancy... Most of the time.

The head of the club strikes with enough force to send the shadow into the air, being stopped only by a conveniently placed wall.

I move to follow up on the attack but the shadow doesn't give me the chance. It splits in two and morphs into a familiar shape.

"Balls." I curse, summoning Izanagi for a Zio attack on one of the balls.

"Haha! Dude, you'll hurt their feelings!" Yosuke jokes as he brings both of his wrenches down on the other ball. I know they're not really that kind of ball but I can't help but wince a little.

Both shadows dissolve into a puddle on the carpet. I guess my initial attack must've been more effective than I thought. "Let's kee- huh?"

"What's up, Seta?"

Cards. Spinning, or rather moving in circles in my vision. All face down. Then all of a sudden they change their movements to line up as though in formation, face up. Seeing them, I can tell most of them are tarot cards. Three are of the suits, one of cup, wand and coin. Then a major arcana. XIX... I think that's Sun but I can't exactly check my notes right now. Then the last card... Isn't tarot. Is that a new persona? A red-haired girl with insect-like wings.

So I can pick one of these? My instincts tell me only one. I should take the persona, right? But... What am I turning down? I _need_ to know what these are to make the right choice.

And as if that thought is a trigger, I understand a little better. The minor arcana give minor bonuses, the major can have benefits or penalties or both and some (like the Sun) give me more selections.

Well, if you are granted a wish, you should wish for more wishes, right?

Choosing Sun gives me two more choices so I choose the wand and the persona cards. And I get a new persona! Hooray! Still don't know what the other card did, though.

"Dude. Seta. What... What just happened?" Yosuke is stunned. Teddie is... not quite as stunned.

"Remember me saying being Zero made me special? Igor told me how. I can carry more than one persona. I can get new ones by fighting shadows. The one I just got i-"

" **Heylisten!"**

… The hell? "... is Pixie. She has a-"

" **Heylisten!"**

I turned around. "What?!"

...No one there.

" **Inhere! Inyourheadinyourhead!"**

"I don't understand..."

"Dude, who are you talking to?"

"Shhh."

" **Rrrgh! Humansslow! Slowslowslowslow _slooooooow. Iiii willll sloooow doooown foooor sloooow huuuumaaaan."_**

I'm in the special hell, aren't I?

"Y-you okay, partner?" Yosuke stammers, not quite sure how to handle the weird going on right now.

"On so very many levels, no. No I'm not."

" **Awwwww coooome ooooon. Dooon't beeee-"**

"You're overcompensating."

" **Oookaaaayyyy iiis thiis better? Can you understand now, slow human?"**

"Yes, thank you."

" **Great! So I was saying. I'm Pixie! I can help! See, I can heal like- Oh. No one needs healing. But I can heal! If I can heal, I can help? Right? Right?"**

I focus my mind on Izanagi, hoping to switch back to the persona that didn't talk my ear off. It seems like it worked.

…

…

I sigh in relief. "As I was saying, this ability is gonna be really useful in fighting shadows, especially since I just found out I can switch back and forth at will." That little moment of annoying let me find out something useful, so I'm a little thankful for it.

" **You're welcome!"**

"DAMMIT!"

"Uhh... Maybe we should head back outside and rest for a bit, Seta." Yosuke suggests.

"Just... Just give me thirty seconds to solve this little problem."

He gives me a concerned look but nods in agreement.

"Okay, voice in my head. Let's deal."

" **Pixie!"**

"Right. Sorry. Pixie. Thing is I need to focus since it's pretty dangerous in here. So while we're in this castle, I need you to stay quiet. Can you do that?"

" **Ooh! We're in a castle?! Can we go see some knights?! Please please please please-"**

" _Can_ you _do that_?!"

" **Yeah, okay. I'll be quiet... For a while."**

"Good enough. Okay, Yosuke. We're good to go."

"Got your hitch-hiker under control?" he asks.

"Yeah, I think so. Being Zero comes with some... side-effects, I guess."

" **Not a side-effect!"**

"WHAT DID I JUST SAY?!"

" **Rightright. Sorrysorry."**

I sigh again. "Let's just keep moving."

-(-)-

Ten minutes of searching and three shadow fights later and we find the stairs up. It took until the third one for me to notice the shadows dropped money after we destroyed them. Like, actual money. Usually a few hundred yen coins. I have no idea how that works.

After one of the fights I managed to pick up an Ukobach persona, whatever that is. At some point Pixie decided to start humming to herself. I suppose she never learned the skill 'Shutupkaja'.

" **Bad joke. Don't say that one."**

You can hear my thoughts, too?

" **In. Your. Head."**

Great. Just... _great._

Only thing on the second floor was a huge ornate door. Teddie claims to sense Chie's presence directly behind it.

"Okay, Yosuke. This is it. Let's go over the plan again."

"We try to help her accept her shadow and stop her from denying it." He shakes his head. "Dude, there's no way she's gonna accept it without everything going to hell first."

"... You think?"

"Dude, I _know_. I've been through it. If we start saying that everything that thing says is actually true it's gonna sound like an accusation. And that's only gonna make her deny it _more_."

"... So we're probably gonna have to fight no matter what?" Damn. I was hoping we could avoid that. "Alright. Plan for fighting it then?"

"We use our element attacks to see if it has weaknesses. If it does we use the right skill just enough to keep it on the ground while the one of us without that skill uses whatever they have to beat the crap out of it." We already agreed on this earlier. I'm glad he still remembers.

I turn to Teddie. "And what does Teddie do?"

"He hides in the corner." the bear answers promptly. And oddly proudly.

"Looks like we're set then. Kick in the door on three?" I suggest, switching to Izanagi.

"Is there any other way to make an entrance?" Yosuke answers with a grin.

"One."

"Two."

" **THREE!** "

-(-)-

The room on the other side of the now broken door appears to be some sort of ballroom. One thing I'll say about this castle. It's very... red. Red carpets, red curtains, red doors, even the fog seems to have a slight pinkish hue to it in here. Standing in the centre of the ballroom is Chie, looking a bit out of it. She doesn't even seem to have noticed the crash of the doors.

"Chie! Are you alright?!" Yosuke steps forward. "... Chie?"

" _She said red looks good on me."_

"Oh. It's Yukiko's spooky voice. That explains it." I mumble.

" _I hated my name... Yukiko... 'Snow'... Snow is cold and melts quickly. Transient. Worthless. But it's perfect for me. Apart from inheriting the inn, I'm worthless._

 _Still... Chie said red looks good on me."_

"So these are Yukiko-san's inner thoughts?" Yosuke asks.

"Yeah, this castle is probably because of this Yukiko person." Teddie answers.

"Yukiko..." Chie finally says, sombre.

" _Chie was the only one who gave my life meaning. She's bright and strong... She can do anything. She has everything I don't. Compared to Chie, I'm... I'm..._

 _Chie protects me. She looks after my worthless life. And... I don't deserve any of it. Chie is so kind."_

"Yukiko... I-I..."

" **Chie is** _ **so**_ **kind, huh? What a joke!** "

"Wh-what?"

Chie's other self appears in front of her. I sigh. "Here we go."

" **Are we talking about** _ **that**_ **Yukiko? She says** _ **I'm**_ **protecting** _ **her**_ **?! Hmhmhm! She says she's worthless! That's how it should be, right?** "

Chie's shadow... I don't like the look of it. Save for the yellow eyes, it's all her. But it has this... unpleasant, superior sneer on its face. Reminds me of the students of those fancy private schools I went to to a disturbing degree.

"Wh-what are you saying?!" Chie squeaks.

" **Yukiko's** _ **so**_ **good-looking.** _ **So**_ **fair-skinned.** _ **So**_ **feminine! She's the one all the guys drool over. And when she looked at me with** _ **such**_ **jealousy? Man, did I get a charge out of that!**

 **Yukiko knows the score. She can't do anything if I'm not around. I'm better than her. Much,** _ **much**_ **better.** "

"No! I have never thought that!" Chie denies, covering her face in horror at the truths the shadow is revealing.

"What're we gonna do?" Yosuke asks, looking to me.

"... We stay out of it and watch. One-in-a-million she admits it on her own but if we butt in we just make it worse. She denies it, we fight it, we help her accept it. But when it appears we have to protect Chie at all cost. If that thing kills her it'll be our" _my_ "fault."

Unfortunately, Chie noticed us while we were talking. "N-no! Don't come near me! Don't look at me!"

Crap. So much for staying out of it. "Chie, calm down." Yosuke says.

"No! No, this isn't me!"

" **Hmhmhmhm! That's right. I'm the one who can't do anything alone. I can't win as a girl, let alone as a person. I'm pathetic..."** it says with a careless shrug.

" **But Yukiko... She depends on me. That's why she's my friend! I'll never loosen my grip on her. She's too** _ **important**_ **to me.** "

" _No!_ That is _not_ how I think of her!"

" **Hmhm! So you're just gonna turn your back and deny me again? Things are different now. When the time comes, I'll be the one left standing. You won't mind, right? I mean I'm still you!** "

"Shut up! You're..."

Shit. "Get ready!"

"You're not me!"

… Nothing. Then:

..." **Heeheehee... Ahahahahahaha!** "

Just like with Yosuke's, Chie's shadow becomes completely obscured by dark shapes flowing around it. Chie gets knocked back.

"Yosuke! Move Chie, now! GO! I'll keep it off you!"

Yosuke follows the command without question, grabbing her by the shoulders and dragging her out of the way. Teddie follows him and stands between the shadow and Chie.

I turn back to face the shadow and... None of these things are gonna be normal looking, are they?

Chie's shadow resembles a woman in a vibrant yellow outfit including a banana-shaped mask with a... smiley face on it? An impossibly long cape flows out behind it, so long it covers a section of the floor behind it. The end of the cape splits into sections, each of which end in a rather large metal blade. It sits suspended about fifteen feet off of the ground above a marionette that the shadow controls using the chains connected to it, held in the shadow's right hand.

… Okay. At least that last part makes _some_ sense.

" **I am a shadow. The** _ **true**_ **self. What do you guys think you're doing? Trying to protect the 'real' me? Then you're gonna pay the price!** "

"Shut it! Quit being such a pain!" Yosuke yells at it. "Chie, just hang in there a little longer." he says, as he looks over his shoulder at Teddie and Chie.

" **Hah! Think you can stop me that easy?!** "

"DAMN RIGHT WE DO! PERSONA!" I crush my summoned card, calling Izanagi for a Zio attack, the lightning striking it dead on but with no visible effect.

Yosuke follows my lead. "Let's do this, Jiraiya!" he cries, doing a surprisingly acrobatic flip kick to smash his persona card. The summoned persona unleashes a blade of wind at the shadow. The marionette drops to its knees as the shadow slumps down in its perch. So we know its weakness then. I switch to Ukobach to see if I could discover another one, trying an Agi skill but it doesn't do much but scorch the chains a bit. Fine. I'll switch back to Izanagi and drop its defence a little.

The shadow isn't willing to let that happen, though. It recovers surprisingly quickly and creates some sort of green shield around itself. Yosuke attempts to stun it again but his wind attack seems to go almost completely unnoticed by the puppetmaster shadow.

" **Green Wall skill. Wind won't work for a while."**

Really? Thanks. I switch to Izanagi as I'd planned to do. "That shield makes it resistant to wind. You'll need to u-MOVE!" The shadow appears to be gathering electricity. For Yosuke, that would be bad. My warning was useless, however. The electricity is discharged all over the area, hitting both me and Yosuke simultaneously. And Yosuke got hit _hard_. He barely looks conscious. Then I noticed the spikes headed for him. I dive to knock a few away before he gets skewered, switching to Pixie so I can heal afterwards.

The price for saving him is several stab wounds in my right arm, rendering it mostly useless. I drop my club since I can't swing it properly anymore anyway. Yosuke gets to his feet as we use our personae to heal each other. "Thanks."

" **Are you guys idiots?! What're you doing protecting her like that? She's nothing but a grubby bitch!** " the dominatrix shadow screeches.

"... Kill now, pleasantries later." I tell Yosuke. I switch back to Izanagi and call for a Rakunda attack, getting hit with the shadow's whip for my trouble but it was worth it. Because as the shadow attacks, its shield falls. Yosuke doesn't waste his sudden opportunity. He throws a wind attack at the shadow, stunning it again.

So the shadow is defenseless.

More so, thanks to my last attack.

Yosuke and I look at one another... and grin. "Let's go, partner!"

"Damn straight!" Wait, I don't have a... Screw it.

Yosuke and I dash for the helpless puppetmaster shadow, him swinging his wrenches, me summoning a card in preparation.

What happens next is... probably best not to recount. Suffice to say bad things happened to that shadow. And it was _fun_.

As soon as it starts to move again, Yosuke and I make some distance between us and it. We were right to. It's _pissed_. " **Ngh... Don't make fun of me... You're... You're nothing against me!** " It moves to attack Yosuke with the blades again.

I move in front of him to block the attack. "It's still defenseless against your attacks! If you stun it again we can take it down for good! I'll keep it busy." I use Izanagi's cleave attack to knock the blades away before they can reach me. Inevitably, some get through but not enough to kill me.

Yosuke runs to his right to get the shadow back in his line of sight. Then "Throw down! Persona!" His attack sends the shadow to its knees again (or at least the puppet was on his... Whatever).

"Ngh! Keep going!" I yell, pulling a blade out of my shoulder. "I need to heal and you can deal the most damage!"

"R-right!" Yosuke can't hide his concern but does as he's told anyway, sending attack after attack after attack directly at the puppetmaster's face (or mask). And with a surprisingly pitiful squeal of " **N-nooo!** ", it falls forwards. What remains just looks like an absurdly long black dress.

-(-)-

"Ngh..." Yosuke and Teddie run over as soon as we hear Chie stir. I still have bleeding wounds to heal. "What... happened?" She turns to see her shadow standing in front of her, waiting patiently. There are only two outcomes left and it knows it has no control over which will happen. "What's the matter? Got nothin' to say anymore?"

"Stop it, Chie." Yosuke interrupts. "It's okay."

She turns to us. "B-but...!"

"No." I stop her, joining the conversation after successfully sealing my wounds.. "Everyone has a part of themselves that they're not proud of. The best way to deal with it starts with admitting it's there. Then you do something about it. If you don't admit it then not only will it still be there, it will _always_ be there." Phew. Yosuke does the next speech.

… Actually, Chie would make more sense, wouldn't it? Meh.

"B-but I..."

"He's right." Yosuke agrees. "I went through the same thing so I can understand. I mean everyone has a side like this."

"..." She turns back towards... _herself_. "... Yeah. I... I kinda get it now. You are me. A side of me I couldn't forgive. That I tried to ignore. But you still exist. You're a part of me."

Chie's other self nods in understanding before disappearing. What replaces it has the same yellow outfit as her shadow except the head, gloves and boots are silver. It carries a naginata with a blade on both ends.

Tomoe Gozen. Fitting, really.

Chie still looks a little distressed. "I... Um, it's true that part of me feels that way... But I wasn't lying about being friends with Yukiko!"

"Heh. Like we didn't know that already." Yosuke snarks before seeing Chie drop to her knees. "H-hey, Chie!"

"I'm okay... Just a little tired." she breathes.

"You don't look okay at all." Yosuke denies.

"Of course she's not okay. You remember what you were like when you got your persona?" I remind him.

"Oh, right! I bet she can use the power we have now."

"Huh?" Chie asks, still kind of out of it.

"Hey, what should we do?" Yosuke asks me.

"... We're probably too weak to go any further today. I'm gonna guess you're almost out of spiritual power – know what? Let's call it SP from now on for brevity's sake – and I really don't think I should bleed any more today. Let's get Chie out of here. We can come back another day."

"Right." he nods. "Let's get back to the entrance, then."

"Wh-what? No, I can still keep going." Chie says, struggling to her feet.

Teddie stops her. "Don't overdo it!"

"It's not that we don't think you can. It's just... we have to save Yukiko-san no matter what."

I continue for Yosuke. "You're tired, I'm dizzy, Yosuke is out of fighting power. If we keep going we could get ourselves killed. _Then_ who saves her?"

"But Yukiko's still in here, isn't she? If those were her true feelings then... I need to tell her something! I'm not as strong as she thinks! It's because... she was with me. Because we were always together, I was able to act that way... If we weren't, I'd..."

Teddie cuts her off again. "Well you need to get your strength back! Then you can tell her! Yuki-chan is normal. Shadows don't attack normal people. They only attack when the fog lifts."

"And Yukiko-san will be safe until then, right?"

"I'm positive." The bear confirms.

"And since that only happens when it's foggy in our world, she's gonna be safe for quite a while. No fog expected any time soon. We can leave, rest, regroup and come back another day. Maybe even tomorrow if we're feeling up to it. Worst possible thing we could do is come in here unprepared." I explain in more depth.

"B-but Yukiko's-"

I sigh in exasperation. "Okay. One more time. If we keep going today. We. Will. Get. Killed. If not by the small shadows then by Yukiko's. Yours drained us completely. And you want us to face it again plus however many smaller ones we have to go through to get to it?!"

Chie whimpers a little. I'm being mean but I'm right.

I continue. "We will come back another day. We will get to Yukiko and we will get her out of here. I promise."

"... Alright." She stands up, unsteadily. Teddie helps her... Somehow. "I'm... sorry about before."

"What, the running off with all of our medical supplies? I'm over it." I say with a smile. "Where are they, by the by?"

"... Uhh..."

I force the smile to stay on my face. "W-we'll find them. No big deal." 5000 yen down the drain... I'm so glad shadow fighting pays.

"No worries. We're definitely gonna save Yukiko-san, right?" Yosuke asks her.

"Right!" Chie responds with a surprisingly bright smile, considering.

-(-)-

"I... I'm feeling even worse than the last time I came here..." Chie complaines as we get back to the entrance platform. "My head feels like it's gonna split open. Are you guys okay?"

"Bet you wish you held onto those supplies n-Ow, what the?" Something hit me on the back of the head.

" **Other guy hit you. Take a hint."**

I grumble to myself about various minor annoyances as Teddie and Yosuke explain the concept of the glasses we're wearing. Then Teddie pulls out another pair.

"Tum de dummm! I got a pair ready for Chie-chan too! Here you go!" He passes them to Chie and she put them... on.

… Wow. She looks... Wow.

"Whoa, what the...! It's like the fog doesn't even exist! This is awesome!"

"Why didn't you whip those out earlier if you had them?"

"I made them right now! You didn't tell me she was coming! It was all so sadden!... I mean, sudden."

"Huh. So that's the trick. I was wondering how you guys could see where you were going. Hey, is it alright if I keep these?"

"Fo' sho'!"... I do _not_ need another reason to kill Teddie but by hell have I got one.

"We'll have to stop here today but I'll be back with these puppies. You guys better not come here without me, got it?!"

"Yeah. Let's all promise each other. No one comes in alone. It's way too dangerous. If we don't work together we won't be able to solve this case _or_ save Yukiko-san, right?"

"Right." We all agree.

Yosuke turns to face me. "Hey... Would you mind being our leader?"

"Eh?"

"Well you were the first to get this power and you're pretty good at giving orders. I think it's best if you set the pace of this investigation and we follow your lead. I'm cool playing second banana." Heehee! Banana.

"Sure."

"I had a feeling you'd say that. I mean I'm more the adviser type, ya know? An ideas man, not an executive."

"I'm with Yosuke. If you're the one calling the shots, I'd feel a lot more comfortable about this." Huh. Chie too. Wonder where all this trust came from.

" **More power means others follow. Natural law."**

Nnnnot going to think too much about that.

"I'm with Yosuke too. If you're the one calling the shots, my pillow will be a lot more comfortable at night."

"Ugh, Teddie would you please stop talking? I'm really on edge right now." Chie complains.

Suddenly everything stops.

 **SMASH!**

Another card. This one... a man walking off a cliff?

 _Thou art I and I am thou. Thou hast established a new bond._

 _It brings thee closer to the truth._

 _Thou shalt be blessed when creating personae of the Fool arcana._

Everything goes back to normal. Yes indeed I am ignoring spooky voices as much as possible now. I speak up. "We should get out of here and get some rest."

"Right. And everyone keep an eye on the weather. It gets foggy after a lot of rain so that's our deadline."

We all head through the exit Teddie made and upon getting back to the real world, go our separate ways.

-(-)-

Dinner at home is... tense. Uncle showed up for once. I try to avoid his stare by getting as low as possible. Not really feasible with Japanese floor tables.

" **Why's that one all frowny?"**

I … said some things I shouldn't have. Well... I was right to say them... kind of... but not to say them to him.

" **Soooo if you say more things he'll get frownier? Say more things! Want to see it!"**

Shush. You're right about saying something though. "Listen, Uncle... I'm sorry about snapping at you earlier. Yukiko-san is a friend... Well, sort of. Friend of a friend at the least. And those co-... _officers_ talking about her like she was just a stroppy teenager when she could be in real danger..."

He looks like he's evaluating what I'm saying. Eventually the look changes to one of satisfaction. "... Okay. I get it. But... Is there anything you're not telling me?"

" **The voice in your head – Hi! - the TV world, your bear friend, th-"**

SHUSH! You're ruining the concentration I need to lie! "Of course not."

"Well... It's just been nagging at me, that's all."

What's wrong?" Nanako interrupts. "Are you fighting?"

"Huh? No. We're not having a fight." Uncle denies a little too quickly. Guess he was trying to work up to it, at least.

"This isn't the police station..." Is she... warning him off? She's actively defending me? I'm touched.

Uncle looks a little dejected. He settles for giving me a miniature lecture. "I agreed to look after you so don't get involved in anything that could get you into trouble. Got it?"

"Yes, sir." I reply.

The weather report announces that it won't rain for quite a while. That's reassuring. We at least have some time.

"Is this lady the one who decides the weather?" Nanako asks. "When she says it's gonna be sunny, it always is."

"Not always." I correct her. "She's not deciding it. It's more like she's just really, really good at guessing it. Most of the time she's right but sometimes..." … Huh..

We'll need to be careful, huh?

-(-)-

I was so ready for today to be over. Just fall into my bed and be dead to the world for the next ten hours. But noo _oo_ oo.

"It's me, Morooka-sensei. I have something that I've prepared just for you."

There are so many things wrong with everything you just said.

"I was going to deliver it to your house but the situation's changed. I need you to come pick it up. I'm in front of the gas station in the shopping district, got it? Get moving!"

I don't... I don't even...

… _What?!_

I turn around and open my mouth to tell Dojima where I'm going but no words come out.

He beats me to the punch. "Something wrong? Who was on the phone?"

"It... was... my homeroom teacher?" I struggle out. "I have _no_ idea what's going on but... He wants to meet me in front of the gas station at the shopping district?" I can't help but make it sound like a question.

Thankfully, he seems to believe me based on the confused furrowing of his brow. " _Why_?"

"He... 'Has something special prepared just for me'."

Dojima frowns _heavily_. "Nanako, Seta and I are going out for a little bit. We'll be back soon. What's the rule?"

"Don't open the door for strangers." she recites.

"Good girl." he nods before turning to me. "Come on, we'll take the car."

-(-)-

A/N: YES! I can write new stuff now! I am so very happy about that, you don't even know!

Okay. So changes to this chapter. I rewrote basically all of Pixie's dialogue to be more consistent. Her default talking speed is too fast for most to understand and she talks in sentence fragments a lot. She's also... Very excitable. I also redid bits and pieces of other dialogue to flow better and changed the Shuffle Time to match Golden mechanics. Then of course we have the scene at the end that only occurs in Golden. It has been altered slightly. It will be altered further next chapter. I will have fun with it.

Fandom Flux. Most recent episode of the podcast features Andrew Joshua Talon! He writes good stuff, go check him out too!

Thanks for reading!


	10. Yukiko Amagi

I spot Morooka as we drive through the shopping district and am genuinely shocked at what I see. He seems to be harassing some girl, looks like a first year, and she looks genuinely scared. Even for a student getting berated by a teacher. As Uncle Dojima pulls the car into the gas station I see my homeroom teacher swing his arm and damn near smack her across the face. I don't wait for Uncle to cut the engine before bolting out of the car and storming over to what looks like a very bad scene. "What the hell are you doing?!"

"Ehh?!" he grunts at me, sounding for all the world like a disgruntled delinquent. "Oh, Souji. You got here sooner than I expected. Here." He throws a moderately sized bag at me. "Now get outta here! I need to see this girl home!"

"Not a chance in hell!" I tell him, glaring. "She's freaking terrified of you and from what I just saw she has good reason to be!"

"Don't you sass me, brat!" He growls at me. "I'll have you in detentions until you're old and grey!"

I briefly glance up at my hair, clearly already gr-silver. Silver.

"It's my duty to see to the moral fibre of the hormonal brats of this town and by hell, I'm gonna make sure none of you stray! Got that?!"

"Actually," I hear Uncle's voice say. I turn to look behind me to see him step into the light of the streetlamp. Lit cigarette in his right hand, jacket in his left slung over his shoulder. Slowly, he raises the cigarette to his lips and takes a quick drag, sighing out the smoke afterwards. "I think that's _my_ job."

Okay. That... I think I forgive him for all the lectures today. That was one of the most badass entrances I've seen. Is this what he's like on the job? My uncle is cool as hell!

"Morooka-sensei, is it?" Uncle asks, knowing the answer.

"That's right. And you are?" Morooka asks in turn.

"Ryotaro Dojima. Or as I feel is more relevant right now, Detective Dojima of the Inaba PD." Uncle seems to watch my homeroom teacher for a reaction. If he gets one, I don't see it. "I figured I'd drive my nephew here to find out what was so important his homeroom teacher decided to drag him to the middle of town while we're in the middle of investigating a serial murder case." He turns to me. "What's in the bag, Seta?"

Looking from Dojima to a suddenly slightly red Morooka, I turn my attention to the bag and reach inside. Pulling out what I find I open it out to show off... a tracksuit? Ohh... With the school initials on it so this is... "Wait. You called me at home, _at 9PM,_ to drag me here, _at 9PM_ , just so you could give me my PE uniform? Are you an idiot?! You're my homeroom teacher, just give it to me in the morning!"

"Seta!" Uncle barks at me, startling me. "I'm handling this." He says sternly before looking to Morooka again. "... What he said."

I fight _real_ hard to suppress a snort of laughter.

Morooka doesn't seem to have a good answer to the question though. In lieu of giving one, he decides to stay quiet. Seems like a smart call to me. I don't think Uncle would tolerate his usual bluster.

"Okay." Uncle accepts his non-answer as 'I'm a moron.' Or at least I assume so. He takes another drag of his cigarette. "How about why you're harassing this 15... 15?" He asks the girl who nods rapidly. "15 year old girl."

"Harassing? Bah!" Morooka scoffs. "Girls her age need to be taught not to be out late at night. She's probably out to score some booze! Or worse, to meet some boy and spread her-"

" _Morooka-san!_ " Uncle snaps at him and holy shit is that glare intimidating. _It's not even aimed at me!_

The teacher seems to realise it might not be the best time to have gone on his usual tirade.

Worse, the girl who was until now just scared, gets completely overwhelmed and starts crying. "I-I was just going home from cram school!"

Oh. _Oh_ , Uncle looks _mad_. "Seta, would you mind walking the young lady home? Head straight home yourself after, alright? I need to ask your teacher some questions and there are better places for that than a street corner."

"Hey, I'm not going anywhere! You can't just drag me off the street like some hooligan delinquent-"

" _Mo-ro-o-ka san._ " Uncle gets out through gritted teeth. " _Get_. In the _car_."

I don't wait to find out how that turns out. I put an arm loosely around the girl and guide her away. It takes her a minute to calm down and tell me which way her house is.

-(-)-

"I wonder how Chie's doing." Yosuke wonders aloud. Monday and we're waiting for class to start. Chie hasn't shown up yet. "Too much stuff happened yesterday. I hope she's back to her usual self."

As if to answer him, Chie walks through the door at that moment. Her anxiety seems to be gone, for the most part.

"Mornin'." she greets us.

"So how you feeling? Recovered from yesterday?" I ask.

" **No discretion? You're mean!"**

Bite me, Tinkerbell, I need to know.

" **See? Mean! Pretty new name though! I'll take it!"**

… Chie's looking at me weird. I didn't say that out loud, did I?

" **Hmhmhmhm your face did!"**

Yosuke is kind enough to explain a little. "Don't worry about him. He's just having an internal argument. One of his personas talks to him and he's been fighting with her since we got here. It's hilarious to watch his face dance!"

"You knew I was doing that and you didn- oh screw it. And it's 'personae'. Back to my question. You feeling better?"

"Uhh, y-yeah. I am. Thanks." she answers. "And, umm... Thanks for everything yesterday. It's kind of embarrassing, ya know? You two were right there to see my hidden feelings an' all..."

"Don't sweat it."

"The same thing happened to you right?" she asks Yosuke. "So... what was it like?"

"Huh? Uhh, how should I put this?... Oh, I nearly forgot! None of that happened when yours awakened, huh?" he asks me, dodging questions like deadly, deadly shuriken.

I shrug. "I'm Zero. But you knew that already. You just wanted to change the subject. Answer the lady's question, please." I say with a slightly sadistic grin.

He glares at me. "You're a bad friend."

I shrug again and grin wider. "I'm definitely not a good one."

Chie cuts in. "So nothing happened for you? So like, you have nothing to hide? I mean you do seem like a pretty open guy. There's a funny air about you..."

Hel-lo! That can only be a good thing.

" **Will you make her wear the glasses when you-"**

"STOP!"... Everyone is suddenly staring at me. "... I did it again, didn't I?"

"Third time today. Still funny as hell." Yosuke answers, not bothering to restrain his laughter at all. Chie is giggling to herself too.

"Hmhmhm! A-anyways, the important thing right now is that we rescue Yukiko. I'm dead set on coming. Remember, you promised." Chie reminds us, stern, with additional pointy finger to prove she's serious.

"Well y- Yosuke?" Where the hell's he going? I shrug. "Oh well. As I was saying, you _do_ look better today."

" **Flirt!"**

Must not kill the voice in my head. Focus. "If you're feeling up to it, we can go back in today."

Her eyes light up. "Really?! Great! The sooner we bring back Yukiko, the better." She pauses for a few seconds. "H-hey, um... Th-thanks for saving me. Yosuke's cool an' all but... there really is something different about you. I feel like you won't let me down."

… Wait, what?

" **Weeeeeird..."**

It did seem kind of unnatural, right? Maybe she didn't realise what she was saying or-

 **SMASH!**

 _Thou art I and I am thou. Thou hast established a new bond._

 _It brings thee closer to the truth._

 _Thou shalt be blessed when creating Personae of the Chariot Arcana._

… Huh. Well that's... Interesting.

" **Good thing, though! Good thing!"**

I think I have some more things to talk to Igor about later.

As Pixie and I thought to each other, time had started up again. Chie is starting to look uncomfortable. Should ask now while I have the chance.

"Can I get your phone number?"

Chie's cheeks flare red as soon as I say it. Whoops. "H-huh?! Uh... Sure! Here." We add each other's numbers to our phones. "Y-you'll need this for the investigation anyway, r-right? Heheh."

She spent the remainder of the time before class at her desk, looking away from me. I'd assume hiding her blush.

Igor and I need to have words.

-(-)-

"Welcome to the Velvet Room."

I'd made my way to the Velvet Room almost as soon as school let out, stopping only to tell Yosuke and Chie to meet up at the food court at Junes.

"Well then, shall I tell you about how I can offer you my 'assistance'?" Igor asks.

"Later. I have a more pre-"

" **NOSE! That thing's amazing! Summon me! Iwannatouchit!"**

"PRESSING concern." I half-shout to shut Pixie up.

Igor chuckles unnervingly, as he tends to do. "I see. I admit we were not expecting this to happen but we have prepared something to help manage it, nonetheless."

"So you can shut her up? Get her out of my head?!"

" **MEANIE! Not talking to you!"**

If that were the case I wouldn't be asking for help.

"Unfortunately it is not something we can remove or block. You see, your mind is a connection to another world. That is the world of demons. In exchange for lending you their power, demons are allowed to gain a certain amount of power."

"Uhh... You're... De-demons?! What?! I never signed up for that?!"

"Please do not misunderstand. 'Demon' is merely a blanket term for creatures borne of the human mind. The majority of deities, myths, legends and fictional characters exist in the demon world in some way."

"... Okay. That... That's kind of reassuring. But it seems like that would actually mean most religions are wrong too, wouldn't it?"

"A matter of perspective. However, we are moving away from the real reason you came here. The reason personae can speak to you is because your connection to the other world is slightly stronger than it is for the majority of our guests. If we were to stop your persona from speaking to you, we would also need to restrict a substantial amount of your power."

"Substantial sounds... bad. So I'm stuck with Pixie chattering away at me for all my life then?"

" **HA!"**

"I did not say that. We cannot stop a persona from speaking with you but we can aid you by changing which persona is capable of doing so."

You heard that, right?

" **I-I'm sorry! P-please don't change it! Please please please please please!"**

"Can you change it over to Izanagi?"

"No."

"Why not?" I ask, trying not to sound whiny.

"Izanagi is what you might call a more traditional persona. The manifestation of your inner strength. It merely appears as how you imagine Izanagi. It has no connection to the demon world, nor to the real Izanagi. Therefore, it has no voice."

"Shame." I wanted to ask why he thought peeing on a tree would help matters when you're being chased out of the underworld. I mean it worked but... "How about Ukobach then."

"Very well."

 _SMASH!_

… "Well he's a lot quieter so tha-"

" **FIRE FIRE FIRE FIRE FIRE FIRE FIRE FIRE BURN BURN BURN HAHAHAHAHA! BURN! FIRE! BURN! BURNBURNBUR-"**

"PIXIE! Put Pixie back on! Please!"

 _SMASH!_

" **Hiiiii! Knew you'd miss me!"**

"Uhm, yeah. I, uhh... J-just couldn't stay away." I shudder involuntarily.

" **Liar. Was still in your head when Ukobach took over. You're still a meanie."**

Fine. Sorry. But do me a favour and try to behave from now on. Or I'll switch to a better option as soon as one comes along. Deal?

" **... Deal."**

Good. "Thanks, Igor."

"Do not hesitate to request this service again. Now, as you have multiple personae, it is possible for me to 'fuse' them to make a new, stronger persona. Simply ask and I will be happy to oblige."

"Thanks but I'll stick with what I have, for now. There was something else I wanted to ask you. Being zero... Does it make me inherently more likeable?"

"While the power of the Wild Card is strengthened by your social links, it does not make interacting with others easier. However, different personae represent different states of mind. Therefore, if your active persona is of a certain arcana, it will be easier to empathise with people of that arcana."

"So... no, then?"

"No."

"Okay... That's all."

"In that case, until we meet again."

-(-)-

"-ude. Dude. Seta! Wake up, man!"

I look left to see Yosuke just as he starts shaking me. "Hey! Quit it!"

"Sorry but I saw you staring at this wall for no reason. What's going on?"

"Wall?"... Oh right. He wouldn't see it. Duh. "Velvet room. Was asking Igor about the voice."

" **I have a name."**

What, beyond 'Pixie'?

" **... No. Power means cool names. Names have power, so powerful have names."**

Tinkerbell it is then.

" **Yay!"**

Guess that looked like spacing out again. "Sorry about that. Anyway..."

Yosuke and I walked to Junes together as I explained to him what Igor just did for me. He seems to have the same problem with it as I do.

"So... All religions aren't real? That's kind of hard to swallow, dude."

I sigh. "Igor said it's all a matter of perspective though and I guess he's right. Technically the Kami, the Christian God, even the ancient Greek deities all exist. It's just maybe they only existed after the religion did."

"That's kinda messed up."

"Yeah. It's definitely raised some questions. Some of which are really gonna keep me up at night... Sorry about that. Heh."

"Yeah, like I could sleep much with all this going on, anyway." he complains. "But Izanagi is more like my and Chie's persona? I mean I hate to point this out again but you never faced your shadow. Shouldn't that be impossible?"

"Don't ask me. I've as much of a grasp on this as you."

"So... Whaddya think would happen if you _did_ face your shadow?"

"... I don't know. Must admit I'm curious though."

-(-)-

We didn't waste any time. As soon as everyone arrived at the food court we headed straight into the TV world where Teddie was waiting. Turns out there's an entrance to the velvet room here too. That's convenient. We spent the walk to the castle bringing Chie up to speed on persona.

"Skewer and Tarukaja, huh? So a... rather unpleasant sounding physical attack and...?" I trail off, waiting for someone to answer. Ideally Chie.

"... Attack boost... I think." And Chie it is. Good stuff.

"Okay. So your skills are physical then. Remember not to overuse them and let us know if you're starting to get worn down so we can heal you."

"By the way, where's your weapon?" Yosuke posed a good question. I don't see where she could be hiding one.

" **You've been looking though!"**

... Yeah. That's totally what I was doing.

" **Hmhm!"**

"Right here." Her response is a few high kicks and... Holy crap was that a backflip?!

"Oh yeahhhh. I forgot you were into martial arts and stuff. Hey, could you teach us how to fight for real?!" Yosuke asks excitedly.

"Yeah, we're not exactly skilled in any weapons. By which I mean we've never used real ones." I add.

She shrugs and smiles. "Sure! If you guys suck at fighting you're just gonna slow me down anyways!"

"Ah, that's right! I almost forgot! I found this, sensei!"

Teddie hands me some... things. Look kind of like small quartz crystals. "What're these?"

"Traesto gems. They'll get you out of dangerous places!"

"... How's it work?"

"I 'unno."

The castle comes into view. "We'll work it out when it comes time to use it. We're here. Let's head straight in."

-(-)-

We basically rushed through the first floor. Any shadows we came across didn't stand a chance. And that was against Chie alone. That girl can _kick_. She also learned an ice skill at some point. That'll come in handy.

" **No making her angry. Would be bad. Bad."**

I knew that already but thanks for the warning.

Teddie speaks up when we get to the room where Chie's shadow appeared. "Hmm? I sense someone behind this door."

"Human or shadow?"

"It's a person, I think."

"... Everyone ready?" I ask.

"Whaddya mean? The only person here is Yukiko! Let's just go in and save her!"

… _Oh._ I never told her, did I?"Uh, Chie. If it is Yukiko in there then her shadow is going to attack."

"But...!"

"I could give a long and complicated explanation but we don't have time. Are you prepared for a big fight?"

"... Y-yeah... Yeah. I'm ready."

 _Phew_. "Kick in the door on three?" I ask the others with kick-capable legs.

"THREE!" Chie beats us to it. I shrug at Yosuke's look, translating to 'Meh. We did this one already. We'll get another.'

On the other side was "Yukiko!" Chie calls out to her.

No. "Not Yukiko."

Chie looks at me. "No, look she's right there! That's-"

"Not Yukiko. I can tell." Huge, fluffy, pink dress. No arcana.

Yukiko's other self laughs maniacally. " **Oh, my! Special guests! I wonder how they'll play into all this! Things are really heating up!** " It giggles. " **Okie-dokie! I'm going back to the hunt for my Prince Charming! Ohhh, where could he be? This place is huge! It's so exciting but it makes it so hard to find him. Maybe he's playing hide-and-seek in the fog! Ready or not, here I come! Let's go further in, shall we?** "

Above Not-Yukiko, the same title logo appears as the one that showed up on the midnight channel. Rainbow colours and everything. There's even applause.

"Wh-what the hell is this?" Yosuke asks, half-rhetorically.

"You're... You're _not_ Yukiko."

It's... probably not a problem for _Chie_ to say that, right?

" **Hmhmhm! What are you talking about? I'm Yukiko... and Yukiko is me.** " It grins at us, as if anticipating when the real Yukiko will say those words.

"Where's the _real_ Yukiko?!" Chie demands.

Disembodied voices suddenly start mumbling incoherently. "What's with these voices?" Yosuke asks no one in particular.

"The shadows are getting agitated!" Teddie mewls.

" **Well, I'm off again! Heehee! You'd better be waiting with bells on, my dear prince!** " It hurries off up the stairs.

Chie made to run after it but stops herself. "Hey, wait!"

"... Come on. We should keep moving. It's probably just taunting us anyway."

"I dunno." Teddie says. "I don't think she was excited for nothing. The real Yukiko wants to show us something. I can feel it."

"No. She doesn't _want_ to show us anything. Not consciously, at least. Shadows are the parts of yourself that you force down. Maybe Yukiko wants to shout whatever her shadow is trying to tell us from the rooftops but can't for some reason."

-(-)-

On the third floor we found something strange. Through an unremarkable door (for the castle, at least) is what looks like a standard classroom of an elementary school. Walls are decorated with demonstrations of simple concepts taught in the early years of education. An older woman stands at the front of the room and all but a few of the desks hold children. Well... most are children. Others hold shapes that somewhat resembled children.

"Wh... What the hell...?" Yosuke voices all of our thoughts for us.

"Okay, children!" the teacher begins. "Now we're going to go around the room and say what we want to do when we grow up! Let's start from the front. #####-kun?" The name spoken doesn't even resemble speech. It was more like the sound of static.

"U-umm... Fireman!"

"Very good! Rei##-chan?"

"Actress!" The girl announces proudly.

"Ooh!" the teacher coos, feigning excitement. "How about you, Yukiko-chan?"

The dark-haired girl the teacher is looking at stays silent.

"Yukiko-chan?"

The girl opens her mouth to speak but nothing comes out.

"Is something wrong, Yukiko-chan? What kind of person do you want to be?"

"I..." the girl finally speaks. "I... don't know."

… The classroom seems to fade from view before our eyes, replaced by the standard decorations of the castle that we're used to.

I'm the first to speak. "So... That happened."

Yosuke is next. "Uh... Yep. Chie, any light you can shed on this?"

"Huh? Why me?"

"Well you know her best." I answer simply. "If anyone can explain why her shadow just showed us Yukiko in elementary school, it'd be you."

"W-well, uhh... I got nothin'. I'd just be guessing."

"... Okay. Let's keep going then. We'll find out one way or another."

-(-)-

We reach the fourth floor with almost no trouble, though we're starting to feel a little drained from all the running around. I got a few new persona on the way so that's nice. Also it seems like as I get stronger I get more of an idea of what those card things do. I guess I grow into these weird powers. Well, I found out the Cup cards give us back spir- SP. So that's been a _big_ help.

"Next time we bring food." I suggest.

"Good idea. I could murder a sandwich right now." Yosuke agrees.

"Y'know we could probably get some of those steak skewers to go. From that place in the shopping district?" Chie mentions.

"That is a fantastic idea. We'll need to bring another bag though. There's no way I'm eating food that's been in a bag full of teeth, scales and metal." I point to the bag still hung over my shoulder. "Metalworks guy better pay well for this stuff."

"You're picking up _teeth_ and expecting him to pay you?!"

I shrug, inadvertently bouncing the bag on my shoulder. "He asked for weird stuff. I'm giving him weird stuff."

We wander around looking for the stairs for a while. We find another weird room first. Or hallway, rather. "Hey! This looks like Yukiko's inn!" Chie comments.

Seems like any other Japanese hotel to me but never mind. Only two people occupy the hallway. One is sitting at a table eating a plate of... something. The other, looking very much like a slightly younger Yukiko, is watching him carefully.

"Um... What are you doing?" Little Yukiko asks the man.

He looks up at her and his demeanour changes instantly. He has light stubble and his long blue hair is tied in a ponytail. Something seems familiar about him but I can't place it. "I got into a fight... Provoked assault." He answers lazily.

She gasps. "That rumour was true?! About the gun fight at the gas station?"

He shrugs nonchalantly, pulling out a pack of cigarettes. "There was only one gun." he answers her as he lights the cigarette and takes a drag on it. "But... You know how rumours like to stretch the truth." He finishes with a half-smile.

Yukiko giggles girlishly. "I'm sorry. You make it sound like that's normal."

He quirks an eyebrow. "You mean it's not?" another half-smile.

Suddenly the man flicks his cigarette towards us, still lit. It lands about three feet away from me right on top of a large spider, burning it alive.

"Yukiko!" A voice calls from... somewhere. "#### ###### ### ######!"

He offers her another half-smile, probably as an apology. He really likes that facial expression. "Sorry. And I'm..." his voice trails off as the inn hallway becomes the castle hallway again.

"I wanna be the first one to say it. That guy seemed _awesome_."

"Kind of?" I half-agree with Yosuke. "I think this is one of Yukiko's memories. It'd explain why some of it's a bit fuzzy. Why'd we see that though?"

Yosuke offers an answer. "Well her shadow keeps going on about her 'Prince Charming', right? That guy seemed pretty damn charming to me."

"I'll say." Chie agrees, a little too emphatically for my liking.

" **Aww! Pixie still likes you better!"**

… You know what? Thanks. "Let's go. We still need to find the stairs."

-(-)-

A/N: Okay. I'm going to open with this. That first scene was amazingly fun to write. A bunch of factors all coming together to create a really interesting scene. That was _fun_. And yes, Dojima did take in Morooka for questioning.

Okay. For people who read the original. You can pretty much point to this point right here where things will change drastically from the first version. If you don't care about that stuff, feel free to stop reading here. Fandom Flux obligatory plug, now you're off the hook.

Right. For the rest of you. This was the point right at what is now the end of this chapter where Samjaz asked to write a scene that would introduce the Reaper for this story as a setup for For Every Soul. Black Shuck, a giant dog from British folklore. He decided that Seta would grab an idiot ball and Black Shuck would take his arm off for it, then Margaret would give him one of Minato's spares. In that one scene, he probably determined more of the plot of the story than I did. Why he wanted this to happen was because he wanted to have Black Shuck be the team pet for For Every Soul after it murdered the fox and her cubs.

Now I want to be clear I still think Samjaz was an okay writer. He put an absurd amount of effort into planning his stories (I know, he sent me his notes). Problem is he also had a tendency to come up with an idea and marry himself to it, whether it was good or not. That plot idea would never have panned out. Either it would alienate the entire P4 cast (even ignoring the fox thing, it _dismembered one of them_ ) or it would have been entirely unbelievable. So a massive plot diversion happened in the story I was writing for the sake of an idea that wouldn't work and would end up never being written anyway.

At this point, you might start to see why I decided on a rewrite.

So yeah. Black Shuck is not and will never be a thing. There will be a reaper analogue. It will not be the P3 Reaper (wouldn't make sense, this game isn't about death). It has been chosen for its appropriateness for the setting, story and themes of Persona 4. It will _also_ not show up yet.

You may consider this the big divergence point between the previous version and this one.

Thanks for reading.


	11. Eye Opening

"Ahh!" Teddie squeaks as we reach the fifth floor. "I can sense her! She must be on this floor!"

"Real or shadow?" I ask.

"Still can't tell. Sorry, sensei."

If it's her shadow it'll taunt us some more. If it's her we fight her shadow. So it's nothing or a big fight. "Don't worry about it. Let's just-"

 _Wow! By any chance are you my princes? I'm locked up here! Please save me!_

I groan to myself. "Question asked and answered." Though now that I think about it, the shadow would be there either way.

 _I'm sure my princes can do it. I'm sure they'll brave any danger to release me from this place. I'll be waiting for you. Ohoho..._

Ughhh, the cliché noble laugh. It hurts me! At least it wasn't 'ufufufu' or anything dumb like that.

"Something's strange, sensei. Be careful." Teddie warns as the spooky voice that was obviously Yukiko's shadow fades.

Teddie wasn't wrong about something being off here. Certain spots on the floor instantly transported us somewhere else. As a trap it was entirely pointless and served as not much more than a minor annoyance. So I have to assume that was the point.

And that just made it _more_ annoying.

"I sense something behind this door! It's that girl's scent!" Teddie exclaims as we near the aforementioned door.

"Alright. We good to go? Everyone know the plan?" I ask the others.

Chie nods. Yosuke uses a skill, looks himself over, then nods. Healing himself, I guess.

"Good. Kick in the door on three?"

"THREE!"

"Dammit, Chie! Stop stealing our badass entrances!" I shout.

"You guys are just too slow! I mean who really counts nowadays?" she fires back.

-(-)-

" **Hmhmhm! My prince wouldn't lose to guards like this, correct?** "

Shadow Yukiko is standing in front of a … rather large shadow. An armoured knight riding a horse that appears to be floating about a foot off the ground. On second thought, 'rather large' doesn't quite describe it. Huge would be more accurate. And very intimidating. "That's... big." is all I managed.

"Gyaaaah! I've never seen such a strong one before! It's attacking!" Teddie squeals.

Need a battle plan. Now. "Teddie! Corner! Keep an eye for weaknesses! Yosuke, Chie! Surround it!"

The knight wasn't about to let that happen. It lunges straight for Chie with its lance, trying to pin her down. Literally. Her reflexes just barely save her as she quick-steps out of the way. Yosuke is getting to work improving our agility with Sukukaja so we could more easily keep up.

Chie knows better than to attack armour with just her feet, choosing instead to use her persona's physical skills. I join the assault with Orobas' Agi skills.

"Physical attacks aren't doing much, sensei!" Teddie tells me, raising his voice to be heard over the clanking of the knight's armour.

"Chie, stick with using your ice attacks. Yosuke, wind skills. I'll stick with fire. Just-"

"Yosuke!" I hear Chie shriek. I hadn't noticed the knight going for him until it was too late. The lance looks as though it passed straight through his leg.

"I'm fine!" he shouts back to allay our worries. "It's just a scra-uhh..." his voice trails off, his eyes going vacant.

And just like that he's on one knee.

 _Crap_.

"Chie, keep it busy!" I order as I head for Yosuke with the supply bag. The knight immediately turns his attention to me and strikes out but with the Sukukaja still in effect dodging isn't too difficult, sliding under the lance's sweep and rolling to dodge the follow-up thrust. Chie's constant barrage of ice attacks on the knight's undefended flank is thankfully enough to force him to leave me alone.

"Yosuke." I tap both sides of his face hard enough to get his attention.

"Ngh uh? Oh... Hey, partner!" he slurs after recognising me smiling drunkenly.

"What's the problem?" I ask.

"I... I 'unno. I just don't feel so... Hurgh!" He starts to heave.

This is suddenly very very bad. It's pretty clear it's poison but don't you need specific antidotes for poisons? The only antidotes I have are those crappy remedies from the Shiroku store... Screw it.

"Take this and use Dia on yourself." I order. I don't care if science doesn't work that way. This damn well better work.

I switch to Izanagi, use a Rakukaja and start slinging Zio attacks at the knight. I need this thing to go down. Soon. "Chie, you still alive over there?" I yell to the other side of the room.

"You guys owe me some healing." Chie's voice came back, sounding a bit unsteady. "Soon would be good."

"Give it everything you've got!"

Zio. Bufu. Zio. Bufu. Over and over again. The simple-minded shadow can't seem to decide who to go for. Zio. Bufu. Zio... Garu?

"I owe you this you bastard!" Yosuke's voice comes from behind me and to my side I see Jiraiya slinging Garu attacks at the knight one after another.

It ends up being too much for the shadow. Before we know it he's a puddle on the floor.

 _Hmhmhm! If you really are my prince, we will surely meet again. I am but a trapped soul. I cannot leave this place even if I wished..._

Well... That was telling. More important things to deal with though.

"Yosuke, are you feeling alright?" I ask.

"Dude, I feel great! I don't know what you gave me but it was _awesome_! We should get _more_!"

I read the label for what I'd given him. 'Doctor Tanaka's Super Mega Cure-All Medicine! Now with coconut extract!'

… "Yeah. I'll... be sure to pick some up."

How the hell did _that_ cure _anything_? Let alone _supernatural poisons_?

-(-)-

Sixth floor. No further sign of Shadow Yukiko. Just weak shadows and more weak shadows. Some of them do look kind of like the Pringles guy now though. Or the Monopoly guy.

Now that I think about it... those two mascots do look surprisingly similar. Hey, Pixie?

" **Yep, yep?!"**

So, are like, are mascots demons too? I mean if demons are born out of human thoughts...

" **Ummm... Probably! Think so! But very young... Bottom of the totem-pole. Demons don't die so stronger means older. Some have thousands of human years. Some count by universes."**

Count by... Wait, you mean their _age_?! Holy shit!

" **Yep yep! Those kind have names in CAPITAL LETTERS they're so powerful. Usually compete to end the world to remake it the way they want. Like YHWH would be all "The world must be orderly and worship me forever" and stuff. And Lucifer – he doesn't get CAPITAL LETTERS but he prob'ly should – he's like "Everybody should do whatever". Armies fight. Humans fight. They fight. The world ends and the winner puts it back together how they like it! Neat, huh?"**

…

…

"Seta?"

"Seta-kun?"

…

"... S-sensei?"

"... Anybody know any skill that can make me forget the last like, five minutes?" I ask weakly.

"... Uh, no. Sorry, partner. Also? Could you, you know, _blink_ for me? You're starting to creep me out."

Slowly and deliberately, I close my eyes and re-open them. "Okay. Let's keep going."

-(-)-

The seventh floor is more of the same. How big is this place anyway? I wouldn't have thought there'd be room for seven floors of gigantic hallways.

"Uhh, guys?" Chie says, trying to get our attention. I turn to face her and...

… The hallway in that direction is no longer part of the castle. Looks like another timewarp flashback to the inn is upon us. Fun. There don't seem to be any details missing in this one. A recent memory then? Since Yukiko looks around her current age I'd assume so.

"She what?!" Yukiko shouts at the man she's speaking with.

The refined-looking man appears unfazed by her outburst. "Please, Amagi-san, calm down. Your mother is fine. Recent events have merely left her exhausted and she is taking some time to recuperate. She wishes for you to run the inn in her absence."

"But that can't be! I don't... I'm not... I'm still in high school! She can't expect me to take over everything just like that! It's not fair! It's not!" Yukiko almost looks on the verge of tears.

"What do you mean, Amagi-san?"

"I... V-very well. Tell my mother I would be glad to run the inn in her absence and... that I am grateful for the opportunity."

"Very good, Amagi-san. Then if you will excuse me." And with that the man fades. However, Yukiko does not. Neither do the tears running down her cheeks.

-(-)-

Eighth floor. Teddie warned us that he sensed Yukiko's presence again. This would likely be the big finish. But...

I look at the others. Teddie looks normal. But Yosuke looks haggered. And even Chie doesn't look that much better despite being more used to this kind of exertion. Then again, does this even really compare to her normal routines?

I'm feeling the strain, too. I haven't been able to cast anything since we left the sixth floor and hasn't _that_ just been a marvellous handicap against the strongest shadows in this place? I'd get drips and drabs of SP when the cup cards came up but it wasn't enough. I don't think we can... Do this... Wait.

" **Ooh, cheatingcheating cheater! I like it!"**

"Yosuke, what time is it?" I ask.

"Huh? Uh," he grunts, pulling out his phone. "Yeah, yeah, no signal, I know." he grumbles. "It's... Wow! Just after 5! We made good time!"

"Real fights are way shorter than most people realise when there's no rules." Chie says, standing to full height after getting her breath back. "If there were no between-round breaks in boxing matches, every match would probably be over by the third round at most."

"Hm." Yosuke hums in acknowledgement. "Also the above the belt rule, the no-grappling rule, the no kicking rule, the gloves... Guess you got a point."

I nod. "Okay. We're gonna bounce for now."

"Yay, something Teddie can do!" the bear exclaims before...

Oh, for the love of- "Not that kind of _bounce,_ Teddie." I grumble. Teddie lets out a disappointed "Aww." and stops hopping in place.

I just don't even...

"You mean we're leaving?!" Chie asks, a disappointed expression on her face. "But I mean, we're so close!"

"We're leaving," I confirm, "but we're not done for today. We can't keep going like this. I can't cast anymore, you're tired and Yosuke is hanging by a thread. Thankfully, we have plenty of time and when it comes to our stamina, I have an ability that lets us cheat."

"So Teddie, how do these gem things work?"

-(-)-

" **Nonononono-"**

"Welcome to the-"

" **Pleasedon'tdothispleasepleaseplease!"**

"Welcome to-"

" **It'snotfairit'snot _fair!_ "**

It looks like Igor is trying to say something but I'm not hearing it. With my poor lip reading skills it looks like he's trying to do his welcome thing but keeps stopping. Wait can he hear-?

" **StopitstopitstopitSTOPITSTOPIT-"**

Igor snaps his fingers.

"STOPIIIIIIT! Oh." The Pixie's seemingly never-ending screeching that had been giving me a headache for the past five minutes finally stopped as she realised she was corporeal, looking at the people around her sheepishly. "Oh. Umm... Hi?"

"Hello." I respond, deadpan. I've been dealing with this for her screeching for past ten minutes. I want everyone involved to know how annoying it was.

"-the Velvet Room." Igor finishes, evidently having waited for Tink's tantrum to finish before finishing his greeting. "It seems we have a disagreement on our hands."

"Yeah!" Tink agrees, whizzing her way to the long-nosed man, stopping a couple inches above said nose. "He wants to get rid of me! The deal was I get stronger this way! Not fair!"

"The agreement is for demons to make themselves available to our guest, should he need them." Igor says. I pay rapt attention, this being something he's never mentioned to me. "Our guest is under no obligation to actually use the persona borne of demons."

"But that's the only way for me to get stronger!" Tink whines, moving a few inches away from his left eye.

"The agreement was made to the satisfaction of all parties-"

"'Scuse me?" I interrupt. "I don't remember agreeing to... any of this. You might've talked about a contract before but it wasn't with you or with any demons."

Igor closes his left eye so as to ignore Tink hovering in front of it. "No? Well you are welcome to ignore the power and abilities offered to you. In that sense, the agreement was always in your favour. If you do not want it, you need not take it. It is an option open to you, no charge, no consequence. For acceptance _or_ rejection."

"I just..." I rub at my forehead. "I just want to understand. What are you two talking about?"

Igor opens his left eye to look at the annoyed fairy before closing it again and looking at me. "Simply, the power you now wield is a two-way street. You are given power, abilities, strength beyond the norm for even those who wield the power of Persona. However, the power must come from somewhere. In truth, it comes from demons. Demons that are willing to share their power and gain power in return. Many of the higher ranked demons are willing to share their power in this way and as such, the lower ranked demons see this as a shortcut to strength. Fools are rare and only one per species are permitted to give power per Fool. Indeed, there are long waiting lists for demons wanting to share their power with a Fool."

"Andyou'remyturn!" Tink says rapidly, flitting back over to me so fast I rear back in my seat. "You. Are. My. Turn. No power! No strength! Not fair! Waited for my turn! _Wantmyturn_!"

I lean around Tink to look at Igor again. "So how does that work?"

Igor releases the closest to a shrug I've ever seen him give, a twitch of his hunched shoulders. "Defeating enemies. It is not a complicated process. However it is difficult and not without risk. For demons without this opportunity there are only two ways. Combat other demons in the Endless which carries the risk of destructive rebirth. Like your reincarnation it means being reborn as someone else with no memory of who you were. Or they could contract themselves to a demon summoner. A human that makes contracts with demons directly. Usually this also means combating other demons. However, the demon is bound to a specialised device that means even in defeat they will not be reborn. No risk, all the reward."

"And Tink didn't go with that option because...?" I ask, seeing Tink's body language tense up in my periphery.

"Hmmm." Igor hums, more pleased than contemplative. "Well there is the issue of contacts. Our services can benefit any demon, therefore it has become something of a lottery in recent years. Only one opening per species per fool. Naturally there are many more that would seek alternative means. Some would find them, most do not. In the case of... 'Tink' specifically, power is also a concern. There is not much call for demons as low on the power scale as she is."

In response to this perceived insult, Tink backs away from me and flits over to Igor again, taking a swing at his nose. Given their relative size it has... even _less_ impact than one would expect. After her assault doesn't even dent the skin, Igor picks her out of the air and suspends her with two fingers, looking her dead in the eye. "Please remember." he whispers in a growl, more menacing than anything I've heard from him before, barely audible to me but I bet she's close enough she doesn't miss a single word. "You are not a guest. You are here at my whim to plead your case to _him_. Do not take such rash action again." With that, he lets her go again.

Even in miniature, I can see the unique terror on Tink's face of an opportunity about to slip through one's fingers. The panicked glances at the people around her, the tightening of her facial muscles. Inevitably, the dam breaks. Giving up some of her pride, she throws herself at me, gripping on to my shoulder. "Pleasedon'tthrowmeaway!"

…

Ggh, fucking guilt trips! "Demons are more powerful than personae, yes? You said that."

"I did. However, for your purposes..." he trails off.

"For my purposes?"

Surprisingly, Margaret continues for him. Not sure why. "The base strength of a demon is limited in the form of a persona, that is true. However, the world you currently inhabit – what you call the "TV World" - is actually the collective human consciousness given form. An active human consciousness has greater impact in it and a persona – any persona – receives a similar boost. Demons, however-"

"Aren't human." I finish. "So they'd be weaker in the TV World, not stronger."

Her lips twitch downwards. "Effectively, yes. The environment would be even more inhospitable for them than it is for you."

So they'd be useless here... But... "What about in the real world?" We _will_ need to confront the killer at some point and I get the sneaking suspicion they won't come quietly.

"What, this world not real enough for you?" Marie speaks up for the first time, and naturally it's to snark at me.

I roll my eyes. " _Fine_. The human world. The physical world. Earth. Terra Firma. _Whatever_. She would be stronger there, yes?"

I notice my slip as Tink stops clutching my shoulder to look at me. I can feel her eyes burning into me and it's unnerving.

"Yes." is all Margaret answers.

… "Alright." I say before looking at Tink. "Alright."

The tiny fairy girl squeals in joy and relief and flits around my head erratically before WOAH okay latching on my forehead and hugging it, or as close as she can manage with her armspan. Don't think she notices that also puts her crotch _directly_ in front of my eyes about an inch away. And yes, apparently demons – or fairies at least – are anatomically correct.

"Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou!"

"Yes you're welcome get off please?" I say in a run on sentence, not moving a muscle. Mercifully, she backs up, grins brightly at me and flits over to perch herself approximately on my left collarbone. I let loose the breath I was holding in a puff before looking at the Velvet Room occupants again. "So how does demon summoning work?"

Margaret opens her mouth to speak but- "That is a journey for which we cannot assist you." Igor cuts in, Margaret's jaw shutting with an audible click. "Our role is to assist our guests in the wielding of their persona abilities. That is all. Demon summoning is an altogether different journey, perhaps more perilous than the one you are currently undertaking, and one for which we cannot guide you."

I nod. "Get someone else to tell me. Got it." Igor frowns. I guess that's not what he meant but it's how I'm gonna take it. "Let's get some fusing done then."

"But-!" Tink protests from my shoulder.

"You'll be in the compendium and you'll know as soon as I do once I have this summoning thing down."

"Okay." she quietly responds, pouting.

She's really determined to send me on that guilt trip.

-(-)-

A/N: Alright. So the team basically finish the dungeon save for the boss but Seta comes up with a plan to rejuvenate them by gaming the system a bit. But before doing that he gets guilted into figuring out demon summoning which will bring in all kinds of complications both in and out of story. Yayyyyyy.

So yeah. Demon summoning will still be a thing but not in the TV world.

Fandom Flux. Still a cool Youtube channel. Still doing podcasts. Also just started a let's play with KingofZeroX of Conception 2, the game about having spiritual hand sex with a bunch of girls. One of those girls has Nanako's voice actor and she is also the character with the most prominent jiggle-physics. It's deeply unsettling.

Thanks for reading.


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